Love Me
by Plague of Angels
Summary: Good and evil. Life and death. Light and darkness. Passion and turmoil. Love and hate. Hermione and Draco. The world is full of opposites, and eventually, they collide.
1. the common room

Disclaimer: If any of you in your right minds think that I am JK Rowling, you need to go to the loony bin.  
  
~*~  
  
The grandfather clock in the common room droned loudly as the hour became midnight. Hermione woke up, startled by the sound. Looking down at her lip, she noticed that one of the pages of the book she had been using as a pillow was stuck to it.  
  
Oh bloody hell she thought, well, at least Harry and Ron aren't here to make fun of me for looking like a fool. She smiled to herself. Harry and Ron were her best friends. She would do anything for the two, and she knew they reciprocated her feelings. She also knew they would throw it in her face if they had caught sleeping beauty at her finest.  
  
Harry.Just the mere thought of him made her heart skip a beat. She had known him for the past six years, and was just suddenly realizing her feelings for him. I'll tell him some day.just not yet, she thought sighing. And with that last thought, she yawned, closed the book that was in front of her and silently made her way up to the girl's dormitories.  
  
Before making it all the way up the stairs, though, a loud sound caused her to run back down the stairs. What in the bloody hell?? her mind screamed when her eyes saw the reason for the crash.  
  
"Harry?!! What are you doing down here? It's past midnight," she questioned.  
  
Harry looked at her flustered, cheeks flaming red with humiliation. Hermione crossed her arms and gave him a look that could shoot daggers.  
  
He cleared his throat, "erm.well, you see.I mean.its like this.uh."  
  
At that moment Ginny Weasley's head popped up from behind one of the sofas. Hermione gaped at her. Her hair was tousled and she was practically glowing red. To be honest, the horrendous amount of red made Hermione's shock even more visible.  
  
She took a good look at Harry. She began noticing things about him that she hadn't noticed when she had first walked into the room. For one, he had no shoes on. Hermione's face contorted a little as she looked at his feet. Hermione hated bare feet, and Harry's bare feet were practically lethal. Harry noticed her look of disgust and brought his foot closer to her.  
  
"Stop it, Harry, I mean it, I will curse your arse from here to America." Harry laughed slightly.  
  
Ginny decided to speak then, "Umm, hey Mione!"  
  
Hermione's eyes moved from Harry's foot onto Ginny. "Hey, Gin.erm, what were you two doing down here? And how come I didn't notice you when I was down here before?"  
  
Harry scoffed. Hermione turned and looked at him, "and what, may I ask, do you find so tremendously humorous about me that you feel the need to laugh at me?"  
  
Harry broke into giggles. Ginny smiled slightly before answering Hermione. "Well, you were sleeping so.soundly.ahem.and we didn't want to disturb you." she trailed off.  
  
Harry looked at Hermione and managed to suppress his giggles long enough to tell her that she snored louder than Ron, which was pretty loud, mind you. Hermione picked up a balled up piece of parchment on the floor and threw it at him.  
  
He held up his hands in mock defeat. "I surrender," he told her.  
  
"Alright then. Now please explain to me what you two were doing down here while I was sleeping so soundly, as you put it?" Hermione noticed Ginny's face grow red again. Hermione smiled. You always knew when a Weasley was embarrassed, that's for sure.  
  
Harry coughed. "Nothing." he said as innocently as possible.  
  
Hermione crossed her arms and took a good look at the both of them. That's when she noticed something on Ginny she hadn't noticed before. The flesh on Ginny's neck was a deep pink in one area. Hermione raised her hand to her mouth. Ginny, noticing Hermione's staring eyes, reached up and put her hand over the spot.  
  
After awhile, Hermione found her voice, "How long has this been going on?"  
  
Harry stared at the floor and mumbled something. "What are you mumbling, Harry?" Hermione asked him.  
  
He lifted his head up and fixed his gaze on her. "A month," he answered her.  
  
Ginny still stood in the same spot looking a tad uncomfortable. Hermione felt as if her world had come crashing in on her. She stood still, her gaze flickering from Harry to Ginny then back to Harry again. Before she could stop it, a single tear crept down her face.  
  
Harry noticed it. "Hermione? You ok?"  
  
Hermione wiped the tear away. Stupid idiot, she thought to herself, I let him see me cry  
  
Harry made a step towards her, but she put up a hand, "No, Harry, I'm fine, I promise. Its just that.that, well.you two finally got together!" she exclaimed, trying hard to fight back her tears, "I'm so happy for you two," she lied.  
  
She couldn't take it any longer. She had to get out of there. So, pulling the old exaggerated yawn and stretch routine, she told them she was tired and was going to bed, and before they had a chance to say anything, she ran up the stairs and into the sixth year girl's dorm.  
  
She looked around the room. Everyone was asleep. It wouldn't have mattered if they were awake anyway. She wasn't good enough friends with any of them to spill her soul. She sighed and leaned against the door. Everything that had just happened seeped back into her mind.  
  
Harry.  
  
Ginny.  
  
Harry and Ginny.  
  
Together.  
  
The tears finally came. Slowly she slid down to the floor and with her head in her hands, she cried as she hadn't cried in years.  
  
~*~  
  
Draco looked at Crabbe and then at Goyle. As he watched them, he wondered how anyone could be so stupid.  
  
Why do I always hang out with those dolts? He asked himself as he watched them comparing muscle sizes. Draco rolled his eyes.  
  
He had grown considerably a few summers before and wasn't the small weakling he used to be. There really wasn't any reason to keep Crabbe and Goyle around anymore. They provided no intellectual stimulation for Draco at all.  
  
Is this all I have to look forward to for the rest of my life? The goons must have noticed the look of disgust on Draco's face because Goyle suddenly began talking to him, "Draco, why do you look like that?"  
  
Draco fought hard to not laugh in his face. "Well, I am bloody handsome, aren't I?"  
  
He asked Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dummer as he ran a hand through his blond hair. Smirking, Draco waited for their response.  
  
Crabbe looked at him confused, "But you're not like that.are you? I mean.you're with Pansy still, right? You don't have a thing for Goyle do you?" he asked, his face serious.  
  
Draco couldn't stand it any longer. He burst out laughing. Bloody hell, they're even stupider than I thought!  
  
They both sat there staring at him with looks of utter confusion plastered on their faces. Draco's laughter ceased as he felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked up at the owner of the hand and inwardly cringed.  
  
"Hey Pansy," he said through a fake smile.  
  
Pansy looked at him and fluttered her eyelashes, "I could think of a million things that you could be doing right now than sitting here talking to these two," she grinned mischeviously.  
  
Draco couldn't stand Pansy. He only stayed with her because she was a great stress reliever. And he was in need of relieving some stress at that moment. He smirked and took her hand off his shoulder and led her into his dormitory.  
  
After he double checked that no one was in the room but the two of them, he locked the door and added an anti-alohomora charm to it. Pansy giggled seductively as she let her hands roam down to his belt.  
  
Unhooking the clasp, she slowly began to unbutton his pants. Draco couldn't stand it anymore. He bent down and kissed her ravishingly. Steering her over to his bed, he pushed her onto it and layed on top of her.  
  
She grabbed the bottom of his shirt and pulled it over his head. He stood up for a second and pulled off his pants. Pansy grinned appreciatively at what Draco had to offer her. He pulled her up a little and unbuttoned her shirt and stripped it off of her.  
  
In the meantime, she was fumbling with her skirt trying to get it off. He bent down and kissed her with force. He broke his lips away from her own and began leaving a trail of kisses down her neck and chest to her belly button.  
  
Pansy was getting antsy, "Dammit, Draco, come on!" Draco smirked as he did what he was told. He felt the stress begin to leave him. Pansy moaned from underneath him and he put his mouth over hers to shut her up. Too bad she has nothing else to offer, he thought to himself. With that, he shut down his brain and focused only on what he was doing.  
  
~*~  
  
Authors Note-yes I know the whole Draco/Pansy thing was a little strong, but its relevant to future chapters, I swear. 


	2. the hallway

Disclaimer: If you think that I am the great JK Rowling, you're the most naïve person on earth.  
  
~*~  
  
Thank you's:  
  
::Puts on a very serious face and clears throat::  
  
Xelith-My first reviewer! Thank you so much for reviewing me. Thanks for the constructive criticism. I'll keep that in mind for future chapters. (  
  
Ashley*-Hey Ashley, tee hee hee. Thank you oh so much for reviewing me. I like nice reviews.  
  
Sinny-lol, why thank you very much.  
  
Joanna-THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!! I'm going to have to come check out your account some time. I'll try to tomorrow, hehe.  
  
Raven Black-Wowza, that's a great compliment coming from you, the almighty queen of fanfics and RPG, lol. Thank you for the criticism as well. I will keep that in mind. By the way, lol, Ron was asleep.I don't think he would be too happy with Ginny and Harry.but I guess we'll just have to wait and see.::grins mischievously::  
  
Sex & Diamonds-hehehe.your review made me giggle. Hehehe. Its not naughty per se.ok, maybe a little. But nothing extreme. Thank you for the good review.  
  
~*~  
  
OK.ok.I'll start Chapter 2 now.Remember to review please. As usual, flames will be used to warm up my hands, because, darn it, they're cold!  
  
~*~  
  
Chapter 2  
  
Hermione awoke the next morning feeling ill. She stared at the ceiling above her bed and sighed. Memories of the night before came flooding back into her mind. She remembered how she completely humiliated herself in front of Harry. How she had run out of the common room as fast as she could.  
  
How could I have been so stupid? She asked herself. Figures. The first time I really fall for a guy, he's with someone else. Of course, he also just has to be my best friend, and it is my sworn duty to pretend I'm happy for him-Hermione cringed at that last thought-but I'm not happy for him. He isn't supposed to be with her. . .he's supposed to be with me.  
  
The door to her room suddenly flung open. Ron came waltzing in with one hand over his eyes and the other searching in front of him so he wouldn't fall into anything. Hermione laughed in spite of herself.  
  
"Ron," she called to him, "you can look, its ok. I'm the only one in here, and trust me, I am decent." Ron removed his hand from his eyes.  
  
"Hey Mione! Whatcha doing up here all by yourself?" he asked her with a goofy grin.  
  
Hermione smiled. Ron could always cheer her up. "Nothing. Just thinking," she answered.  
  
Ron smirked, "Should have known," he teased.  
  
Hermione looked at him crossly and joked, "Oh yeah?"  
  
He nodded enthusiastically. Hermione grabbed the pillow from behind her and hit him with it.  
  
"Hey, what was that for?"  
  
Hermione just giggled. Ron lunged at her, "I'll show you to hit Ron Weasley with a pillow!" he told her as he began tickling her.  
  
Laughing so hard that tears came, she finally forfeited, "Ok, ok, you win," she raised her hand in the air, "I solemnly swear that I will never ever hit Ron Weasley with a pillow again," she told him in between giggles.  
  
Ron grinned, "That's better. I'm glad that I finally taught you something for once."  
  
"Ha Ha," Hermione retorted dryly.  
  
Ron walked to the door, "Hurry up and get ready. We're going to Hogsmeade today, remember?" Hermione nodded and Ron closed the door.  
  
~*~  
  
Hermione approached the common room apprehensively. She really did not want to run into Harry at that moment. She surveyed the room and took note in the fact that Harry wasn't there. In fact, no one was there. Breakfast!  
  
She suddenly remembered. Quickly, she ran out of the room and through the portrait of the Fat Lady.  
  
She felt her stomach growl in hunger as she made her way down a flight of steps. Almost there, she told herself. As she rounded the corner right before the Great Hall, rather briskly, mind you, she slammed straight into the person she least wanted to see at that moment.  
  
"Harry!" She yelped in shock.  
  
"Er. Hey, Hermione," he replied quickly.  
  
"Hey," she repeated.  
  
Harry looked at her with mild confusion. Hermione looked up into his eyes. She could get lost in those eyes. She felt her heart flutter as she watched him.  
  
He suddenly spoke, "Hermione? You, um, you er, don't have any feelings for me, do you?"  
  
She felt her cheeks flush. Oh great, now I've turned into Ginny. Always blushing at the sight of Harry.  
  
At the thought of Ginny, Hermione's face darkened. She hated to admit it, but she was jealous of the girl. She wondered what it must have been like to kiss Harry the way she assumed the two had been kissing the night before. She inwardly seethed.  
  
"Um, earth to Hermione!" Harry was waving his hand in front of her face.  
  
"What?!" She snapped.  
  
"You didn't answer my question," he replied.  
  
Hermione crossed her arms, "what's it to you?" she spat. "Nothing. I would just like to know. I mean, with the way you were acting last night. . .well, I don't know, it just seemed like it a little, ok?"  
  
Hermione looked into his eyes, managing to remain calm. "No. Of course not. Why on earth would I like you, Harry? You're my best friend. Something like that could ruin our friendship. I'm not stupid, you know." Yeah you are, a little voice in her head told her.  
  
Harry shook his head. "You're an awful liar, Hermione," he told her.  
  
She gasped and pointed her head down, "What did you just say?"  
  
Harry, realizing what he had said, took a couple of steps back. For the second time in twenty-four hours, the tears came. Harry was taken aback slightly at the sight of her crying; crying over him, no less.  
  
When Hermione finally pulled her head back up, she whispered in a menacing tone, "Get out of my face, Harry Potter. Don't talk to me again. Ever. Just leave,"  
  
Harry didn't budge.  
  
"NOW!!!" She screamed at him.  
  
Harry shook his head and walked back into the Great Hall. Hermione turned to the stone wall behind her and put her forehead against it. She was trying hard to control her breathing at that point. Furious, she slammed her fist into the wall as hard as she could.  
  
Dammit, she thought as she looked at her hand that was steadily turning an odd green hue and radiating a pain so tremendous that she almost lost her breath again.  
  
~*~  
  
Draco was walking down the corridor in front of the Great Hall when he heard someone running behind him. He turned around and saw Hermione running at full speed clutching her stomach and not paying any attention to where she was going. He hid himself in a dark corner as she flew by him.  
  
Amused by the sight, he decided to watch. He noticed Harry coming from the other direction, and snickered when he saw the two collide. Not wanting to miss out on whatever was about to happen, he stayed put.  
  
The two began talking, he noticed, but he wasn't close enough to them to hear what they were saying. Hermione's head was down and she was talking so low, Draco wondered if even Harry could hear her. Harry replied to whatever she had just told him.  
  
Immediately Draco knew that something wasn't right with the picture. He saw Hermione's shoulders fall at Harry's response. She also put her head back down, Draco noted. He started to realize that she had her head down a lot lately.  
  
What in the hell is going on between Mudblood Granger and Scarface? He wondered.  
  
He suddenly heard Hermione's voice loud and clear. She had screamed at Harry and tears were streaming down her face.  
  
He watched as Harry just backed away from her and walked into the Great Hall. Draco felt a twinge of sympathy for the girl. What in the fuck? He slapped himself inwardly.  
  
He was still watching her, though. He saw her lean against the wall and suddenly punched it. She had hit it so hard, even Draco's hand was hurting.  
  
Feeling the sudden need to be superior, he stepped out of the shadows. "What's the matter, mudblood? Did the Pot-head turn you down?" She glared at him.  
  
He smirked, "Oh, If looks could kill," he teased.  
  
Hermione continued to shoot daggers as she icily told him, "If looks could kill, you would have been dead the first day of our first year."  
  
Draco's smirk didn't falter. "For once, I agree with you, mudblood. But I take pride in those looks. It lets me know how much others fear me."  
  
Hermione scoffed, "they don't fear you, Mal-ferret, they fear your bloody father and your name. Of course, you will probably be feared some day, as well. You are turning out to be quite the daddy's boy, aren't you?"  
  
Draco seethed, "And what do you mean by that exactly?"  
  
It was Hermione's turn to smirk, "It means, Malfoy, that you are just another evil, brain-washed idiot destined to be a cowardly traitor just like your father."  
  
Draco seized her by the throat at her comment. Her eyes went wide with fear. He bent his mouth down to her ear and whispered, "Don't you ever compare me to my father again, mudblood, or I'll make you wish you had never been given a letter telling you that you were a witch."  
  
As he spoke his last comment, he removed his hand from her throat. Hermione glared at him.  
  
"Too late," was all she said.  
  
~*~  
  
A/N: yay, done with chapter 2. I'm sorry if it's a little weird. It's 3:00 in the morning, so I'm a little sleepy. Yawn.well, please tell me how it is. Nighty nighterkins! 


	3. the library

Disclaimer: I am the almighty JK Rowling. You must all bow down to me. ::Slaps you upside the head:: Do you honestly think that I would be writing fanfics if I were JK Rowling? Didn't think so.  
  
~*~  
  
Thank you's:  
  
Zac: thanks for reviewing me ferret. You're helping me with this a lot, so thank you for that.  
  
JediHermione: thanks for the good review. I'll try to remember to do that, thanks.  
  
Raven Black: ::bows down to the queen of rpg and fanfics:: lol, thanks for the nice review rav.  
  
Sex & Diamonds: ack, you made me laugh again, lol. Thanks for reviewing.  
  
Amanda: why thank ya me darlin'. lol.  
  
~*~  
  
A/N: after this update, it probably wont be until Thursday sometime till my next chapter. A/N2: things in * indicate thoughts.  
  
~*~  
  
Chapter 3  
  
~*~  
  
Hermione's throat felt sore. She wasn't surprised, either. The way Malfoy had pinned her against the wall, she was shocked that it didn't hurt more. She remembered how badly it could actually hurt. Malfoy was gentle when compared to. She gulped as the tears started to well up. Taking a deep breath, she calmed down. You can't dwell on the past, Hermione.just.forget about it. Hermione's other side tried to fight back: but what if I can't do that? A noise from the other side of the painting made her lose her train of thought.  
  
There were muffled whispers and giggles coming from behind it. Silently, she walked up to the entrance of the common room and put her ear to the door. Her face screwed up in pain as she listened to what was being said.  
  
"Harry.stop, not here," Ginny giggled.  
  
"Why? Afraid someone will catch us?" came the response. Hermione heard more giggles from Ginny, and the sound that could only be described as two people kissing passionately. Hermione was fuming. Stupid Ginny.why did she have to go and take the one guy that I've been able to love since.since then. More memories clouded her mind. Shaking her head, she decided she had to get out of there. Grabbing her book bag, she walked up to the entrance, took a deep breath, and opened the painting. She ignored Harry and Ginny as she sped passed them. Not that they noticed her anyway.  
  
~*~  
  
She was happy to see that the library was empty. Heaving her heavy book bag onto the nearest desk, she began pulling out its contents. She sat down, opened the book on top, and began writing. She was so immersed in her schoolwork that she didn't notice Draco walk in.  
  
"Hello, mudblood," her blood went cold as she heard his voice.  
  
"Malfoy," she responded coldly without turning around.  
  
Draco smirked, "Are you here for any certain reason?"  
  
Hermione hesitated before answering, "I came here to study, mal-ferret, now sod off."  
  
"Of course. That is about all you do, isn't it?" was his reply.  
  
"I'm serious, Malfoy, go away."  
  
Draco chuckled, "No, I think I'll stay, thanks.  
  
Hermione rolled her eyes, "Well, could you manage to leave me alone if you do stay?"  
  
Draco grunted. "believe it or not, talking to you isn't the most exciting thing in the world.what's this?" he asked as he grabbed a book from the pile on the desk.  
  
Hermione threw her quill down. "Malfoy, give that back to me!" she exclaimed as she snatched it from him.  
  
Draco raised an eyebrow at her as she set the book back down on the desk. At least, she thought she had set it on the desk. It teetered on the edge for a second, and then fell to the floor with a loud -SLAP!!-. Hermione jumped at the sound and before she could stop him, he picked the book up and began reading out loud in a high-pitched annoying voice.  
  
"Diary, He doesnt even know how much I LOVE him.how much I want to feel his hands on me.how much I long for him." Draco snorted with a cruel laughter.  
  
Hermione made a grab for the diary, but he held it out of her reach. Then she realized that there were things in that book that she didn't want anyone to know about. Not even Harry and Ron. She made a desperate grab for it.  
  
"Give it to me, Malfoy," she demanded.  
  
Draco only smirked, then asked, "Shall I keep reading?"  
  
Glancing into her eyes, he noticed that they were filled with terror. He watched as she shook her head no. He began to turn the page, but when he glanced at her again, he decided better of it.  
  
Tossing the book to her, he said, "Fine, it's getting boring anyways." He paused before continuing, "though I wonder what the rest of the dream team would think if they saw what you wrote about them..."  
  
Hermione began to wonder how much he had, in fact, read, "Malfoy."  
  
He glared at her, "yes, Granger?"  
  
She took a shaky breath, "how much did you read, exactly?"  
  
Draco smirked, "let's just say I know about everything you want to do with scarface."  
  
Hermione's cheeks flushed, but still, she felt relief, for he hadn't found out about.about that thing.Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted.  
  
"What do you need a diary for anyhow?" he asked her.  
  
"you wouldn't understand."  
  
Draco shrugged. Hermione was frustrated.  
  
"That is so like, you Malfoy," she told him.  
  
Draco turned to her, a little confused. "Pardon?"  
  
Hermione narrowed her eyes, "you shrug everything off, you dont even take any chances. you call yourself a slytherin...but you're nothing but a hufflepuff."  
  
Draco glared at her. "What do you know, anyway? My life is my business, so you just get you're stuck up self out of it. Go have fun with the 'Dream Team'"  
  
Hermione looked at him, "at least I have friends," she told him.  
  
Beginning to walk away, Draco mumbled, "Friends are weaknesses."  
  
Hermione scoffed, "yeah, and hiding behind two beef-heads isn't a weakness?"  
  
Draco glared at her, "you know nothing about me, so don' t pretend that you do."  
  
"I never said I did know something about you."  
  
"why don't you do the wizarding world a favor and go back to your muggles?" he asked.  
  
"bloody bastard," she muttered.  
  
"oh I'm offended.. really," he told her as he rolled his eyes.  
  
"yeah, well, I figured you were." she responded sarcastically.  
  
Draco looked at her. Hermione began feeling uncomfortable as he didn't look away.  
  
"what?" she asked. "why do you keep on looking at me like that?"  
  
Draco glanced away, then looked back at her, "why, does it bother you?"  
  
"well, yes."  
  
"why?"  
  
"because, malfoy, you wont bloody stop it already!!"  
  
Draco opened his mouth, then closed it. For once, he was at a loss for words.  
  
~*~  
  
Draco headed for the Slytherin dorms to collect his broom for quidditch practice, only to be plagued by thoughts of her. She can be so irritating. I don't know why Dumbledore lets mudbloods in this school. But then, he is a muggle lover. Stuck up, Goody-two- shoes.sometimes I think she forgets shes a witch.something is going on inside her head. With that last thought, he grabbed his broom and raced out to the quidditch pitch. A/N: yeah, I know, this chapter sucks balls. I'm sorry about that. Im just a tad tired, so im not really thinking correctly as of now. Well, good night. 


	4. the dream

Disclaimer: How many times must we go through this? I'm not jk rowling. If you think I am.wow.that's all I gotta say.  
  
~*~  
  
Thank you's:  
  
Only 3? Oh well, at least I know a couple of people like my story.  
  
~*~  
  
Raven Black: thank you Rav. I'm not gonna call you Saffron, I'm gonna call you Rav. Hehehe.  
  
Amanda: WELL, :0P on you!! Lol, just kidding Manaize. Thank you for the constructive criticism and the lecture on inanimate objects.  
  
Zaccyzac: haha, how I wuv you. Lol. Nope, no soda's for you. And yes, you do rule, lol. And Im happy you WUV my story. Wuv ya.  
  
~*~  
  
A/N: I was recently told by someone, ::cough::cough::Amanda::cough::cough::, that Hermione was a little bit OOC. There is a purpose to this. Believe me. I push her between in and out of character for a reason. You'll find out this reason soon enough. Just not today.  
  
~*~  
  
Chapter 4  
  
~*~  
  
Hermione gathered her books together and left the library, wondering why Draco Malfoy had been looking at her the way he had been. I really can't stand that git she thought to herself. Keeping her head down, she made her way back down to Gryffindor tower. She felt herself run into someone, muttered a quick, "sorry," and went on her way.  
  
Why do I let him get to me?she wondered. He isn't anything but a selfish, whiny, slimy git who serves a better function as a ferret than a human She surprised herself with her thoughts. Before she realized it, she was in front of the portrait of the fat lady.  
  
"Monkey bars," she muttered to the painting. She noticed the Fat Lady gave her a sort of pitying look before the painting swung open. There was Ginny. And Harry. They were sitting on the couch snogging. Well, maybe sitting isn't the right word for it. More like, Ginny was leaning into Harry so much that she was practically lying on top of him. Hermione cleared her throat. They still didn't notice her. She walked up right behind them and cleared her throat as loudly as she could. Ginny's lips broke away from Harry's. Harry looked up to see an angry Hermione.  
  
"Five points from Gryffindor," she muttered to the two of them. Harry looked at her in shock.  
  
"Hey, you can't do that. You're a Gryffindor!" He retorted.  
  
Hermione glared at him, "Harry, its my duty as a prefect to control the behaviors of students at this school, and from what I just walked in on, I believe I did the right thing. Besides, it's only five points, don't go haywire or anything."  
  
Harry glared up at her, shaking his head in fury, "No, Hermione, you're just upset with me, and that's why you took away points."  
  
Hermione scoffed, "You honestly think that I would take points away from someone because I'm angry with them? I'm a prefect, Harry. I'm supposed to take away points when someone disregards the rules."  
  
With that, she turned on her heel and left for the prefect's bedroom. She didn't go in there much, for it got dreadfully lonely. She mainly slept upstairs with the other 6th years. Only one other person knew where the prefect's bedroom was, and that was Ron.  
  
He's basically the only friend I've got, nowadays she thought to herself. Falling back on her bed, she began thinking about HIM. (A/N: Draco is HIM) He's so infuriating! She stared up at the ceiling and began counting the cracks that were in it. Getting bored with that quickly, she flipped onto her stomach and retrieved her diary from her book bag.  
  
She wanted to write. She wanted to unleash all her pain and anger. As she dipped her quill into the ink, she pondered for a second before beginning.  
  
~*~  
  
Diary,  
  
Sometimes, I just want to kill that Draco Malfoy. He berates me with belligerent and cruel names, teases me ruthlessly, yet I still do nothing about it. I'm afraid that if I said anything to him he would do something to me. Yesterday when he pinned me to the wall, he really did scare me. He had an anger in his eyes that I've only seen one other place before. I've always tried to read his eyes, but he hides his emotions so well, although yesterday, I really caught a glimpse of him. The anger he showed when I compared him to his father was surreal. I had expected him to come up with some annoying comeback like he always did, but instead, he grabbed me by the neck and slammed me into the wall. He hurt me. . .and frightened and angered me so much. . .  
  
I could say the same thing for Harry. He hasn't frightened me, but he has angered me. To think, I actually thought I knew the bastard inside and out. Then he accused me of being a liar. He made me so utterly mad yesterday that I hit the wall. Hermione Granger does not hit walls. I don't know what I was thinking, screaming and yelling at him like I had, then going and punching the wall. Actually, I do know what I was thinking, but now, it seems all so illogical. I ended up staying in the infirmary instead of going into Hogsmeade. Ron offered to keep me company, but I told him to just go. Ron's a great guy. I'm glad he's my friend. He's really the only one I've got. Well, right now, at least. I don't know what is going on with me right now. It scares me. -Hermione"  
  
Hermione looked at what she had written. I sound so. . .whiny. she concluded to herself. A little irritated with herself, she threw her diary into the corner and left it there. She fell back on her bed again and sighed. Memories seeped into her mind, and slowly tears began to trickle out of her eyes as she fell asleep.  
  
~*~  
  
Draco was at quidditch practice thinking about what had happened at the library. Why was I staring at her for so long? He was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't notice the bludger coming at him until it hit him.  
  
It hit him full force in his side and he fell a good 25 feet. One of the chasers managed to catch him in the air with a spell, so he wouldn't hit the ground so hard. The team ran over to where their injured seeker lay unconscious.  
  
"Great, who're we going to find to fill in for him?" one of them called out. The captain, a seventh year, shrugged, "Damned git, didn't pay attention to the bloody bludger." Annoyed, he stalked away as the rest of the team followed him dutifully leaving Draco in the center of the pitch alone.  
  
He was unconscious, yet his mind was still active, and he began dreaming.  
  
~*~  
  
He saw her. Radiating in a beauty that she never noticed, yet he always saw. The sight of her usually mystified him, and he would get angry with himself for even thinking like that.  
  
He was unable to control his dreams, though, and when he saw her walking silently in his, he was in awe. He wondered where they were. It looked to be a beach of some sort, water gently splashing at their ankles, waves cresting in the distance, wind tangling though their hair.  
  
She lifted her head to the sky and let the gentleness of her surroundings overcome her. He watched her. Her hair was twisting wildly in the wind, slapping the air with swift flicks. He became entranced in her. Such beauty. . .such feeling. . .such happiness.  
  
He watched as she slowly opened her eyes and look at him. A slight smile danced onto her lips. He wondered what she was thinking. Her smile grew a little wider. He smiled back, in spite of himself. They were watching each other intently. Draco leaned closer to her and wrapped his arms around her. She gazed into his eyes as he did so. Slowly she leaned closer to him, her lips inches from his. He felt himself doing the same.  
  
A loud crack of thunder made them jump back from one another. Draco watched as lightening struck all around them, threatening to hit them. He held his hand out to her and tried to bring her over to him. She reached out and grabbed it. They managed to hold on to each other for an instant, but they were suddenly ripped apart by an unknown force. He watched as she struggled to reach out to him. She was being pulled further away from him. He tried to run after her, but it was as if there was an invisible wall holding him back. He screamed out to her, calling her by her name as she did the same thing. In the blink of an eye, she was gone.  
  
~*~  
  
"Hermione!" Draco awoke in a cold sweat.  
  
Madame Pomfrey rushed over to him. "Boy, it's about time you woke up. You've been unconscious for hours."  
  
He glanced up at the nurse. "Why, why am I here?" he asked her.  
  
She looked at him crossly, "Don't you remember?" she questioned.  
  
He shrugged, "I remember being on my broom at practice, that's all," and the dream, he reminded himself.  
  
Madame Pomfrey sighed, "Well, you must not have been paying attention all that much, because you took a bludger to the side. Broke 3 ribs, it did."  
  
Draco looked to his bandaged side, "Why doesn't it hurt?" he asked.  
  
She smiled briefly, "Believe me, boy, broken ribs aren't a pleasant thing. I've mended them as much as I can, but you're going to have to let the healing process run its course. I cast a spell so that you wouldn't be in too much pain, although you may feel it once and a while. There is a significantly large bruise still. You got incredibly lucky. One of your ribs came deathly close to penetrating a lung."  
  
He looked at her. I almost died? he asked himself. It came as a great shock to him. The room was silent as the thought settled into his mind. He watched as Madame Pomfrey left him alone in his thoughts. Without realizing it, a tear fell down his cheek and seeped into his pillow, disappearing into the white folds of the cotton cover.  
  
He lay awake, only thinking about what had almost happened to him that day, and a dream that had seemed too horrifyingly real. It was almost as if it had been an omen.  
  
A/N: well, there you have it, chapter 4. review please. 


	5. the marks

Disclaimer: although I wish I was jk rowling.im not. I own no harry potter things, except for the two posters, the two calendars, and the movie I bought, and my movie tickets, if that counts. I do, own this plot line, though. Yay, go me. Super cool. Alright then.  
  
~*~  
  
Thank you's  
  
~*~  
  
Amanda: Thank you Manaize. I like good reviews like that.  
  
Zaccyzac: I'm not the only dork, you know. And no, no soda. Glad you liked the chapter though.  
  
DracoDew17: Thank you for your review. I got it all better. I'm a little hyper right now. By the way, I like your pen name.  
  
Sonia: Thank you Sony. Believe me, Zac has helped me a lot to get the mannerisms down. Lol, you too, of course. Anyhoo, thanks for the review. *smiles*  
  
~*~  
  
A/N: wow, this is a really fast update isn't it? I had this idea while I was in church this morning. During a prayer, no less. I feel a little guilty about that, but I'm really liking this idea, so hopefully it turns out ok. Now, on to ch. 5  
  
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Chapter 5  
  
~*~  
  
Hermione woke up screaming, struggling with the blankets that were tangled through her legs. Her back felt as if it were on fire. Her scars were stinging again. They had been lashed into her skin three months before, yet they still felt like they were being ripped into from time to time.  
  
She sat up in the bed, gasping, tears spilling out of her eyes, trying her hardest to pull her shirt off so the air could hit her back. The pain was unbearable, and she hadn't realized she had been moaning in agony.  
  
Ron suddenly burst into the room. He saw a half dressed Hermione, only in her bra and pajama pants, swaying on the bed, crying hysterically. He ran over to her and sat down beside her, the worry in his eyes increasing by the second.  
  
She was still panting and gasping for air, letting out a steady wallowing noise every now and then. He put his arms around her shoulders and she screamed violently. The pain was too great, and she passed out.  
  
Ron sat in shock next to her. He turned her over a bit, and saw what had made her scream. Long, thin, red whelps covered every inch of her back.  
  
What the.? Ron asked himself. He stood up and gently scooped her into his arms. Without a second's thought, he ran out of the bedroom with her and rushed to the infirmary.  
  
~*~  
  
Madame Pomfrey was reading in front of Draco's bed and watching him to make sure he didn't roll over onto any of his broken ribs when the door to the hospital slammed open, with an out of breath Ronald Weasley and an unconscious Hermione Granger in the door frame.  
  
The old nurse looked to the source of the sound and was shocked at what she saw.  
  
"Oh, dear, what happened?" she questioned Ron.  
  
Ron was still trying to get a hold of his breath, "Sh-She was in her room, and I-I heard her scream, I found he-her. l-like this."  
  
Madame Pomfrey ushered him to lay her down a couple of beds over from Draco's. He had woken up when Ron had run into the room, so now he was watching everything through the slit of his eye. He watched as Ron put her onto the bed and gently rolled her over so that her back was toward the ceiling.  
  
The nurse gasped at the sight. Draco looked on in shock, not knowing what to do. He just stayed where he was wondering what exactly was going on.  
  
"Oh dear," the old nurse muttered.  
  
"What's wrong with her, Madame? I got to her room, and she passed out. . ." Ron explained with a look of confusion and worry on his face.  
  
Madame Pomfrey looked up at him sadly, "I'm not sure, yet, Mr. Weasley. I have a pretty good idea, but I don't think I should disclose that information to you until I'm completely sure. I do think that you should go and get some rest, Mr. Weasley. Classes tomorrow."  
  
Ron nodded and turned to leave. He seemed to think about something for a second, and turned back around and kissed the top of Hermione's head. He fought back the tears that were threatening to spill as he left the room.  
  
Draco noticed that Hermione's breaths were coming out raggedly and almost forced. He laid and watched her and Madame Pomfrey silently from his bed.  
  
Whats going on? he wondered. He heard the nurse mutter a few things to herself and thought he had heard her say bastard. Hermione hadn't woken up yet, he noticed.  
  
Madame Pomfrey reached down and put her fingers on one of the scars on her back and quickly pulled it away in shock.  
  
"Well, I'll be," she muttered, "the scars are hot to the touch." She furrowed her brow while she thought about how to help her out. After a few minutes she stood up and walked over to the cabinets and pulled out a vile of some sort of potion.  
  
She began stirring the vile's contents as her eyes flickered from Hermione to the potion. She walked back over to Hermione. After putting on some gloves, she took a handful of the gooey potion and applied it to her back.  
  
Draco heard Hermione suddenly whimper. Apparently Madame Pomfrey had heard it as well, because she looked towards Hermione.  
  
"Miss Granger? Are you awake, dear?" she asked.  
  
Hermione lifted her head, and as she did, her face contorted in pain. Leaning over the side of the bed, she retched. Draco felt his stomach turn over. He shut his eyes until she was finished vomiting and after Madame Pomfrey had cleaned it up with a quick clean up spell.  
  
Sighing, Hermion let Madame Pomfrey finish rubbing the potion into her back. When she was done, Madame Pomfrey stood up and grabbed a hospital gown from the supply cabinet and handed it to Hermione.  
  
Hermione took it and Madame Pomfrey closed the curtain around her bed and walked into another part of the wing, leaving the two teens alone.  
  
Draco flipped onto his back, and gasped in pain as he felt his broken ribs move with him. The pain wore off after a few minutes and he closed his eyes trying to sleep. After a few minutes, he heard the curtains from Hermione's bed open. He opened his eyes and looked over at her.  
  
She was sitting Indian-style on her bed with her face in her hands. Her shoulders moved up and down with her sobs. He watched her. He couldn't take being quiet any longer.  
  
"Errr.Granger?" he called out to her.  
  
She pulled her head up briskly. She hadn't noticed him there. He was watching her intently, trying to figure something out, anything. He noticed her eyes got even redder and moister than they had been before she looked at him. It took him a second to figure out that she was upset that he had seen her cry.  
  
She took a breath to calm herself, but it only caused more tears to escape. "What?" she asked him quietly.  
  
He gave her the once-over. Tears were cascading down her cheeks like she was a human waterfall, her breaths were ragged and not on time, and her face contorted every so often from the pain in her back.  
  
He looked into her eyes, "What. . .what happened to you?" he asked her.  
  
She glanced away. "What do you mean, Malfoy, nothing happened to me," she lied.  
  
Draco snorted.  
  
She looked at him again, "What?"  
  
"You really are a bad liar," he told her.  
  
She rolled her eyes. Draco almost smirked, but stopped himself.  
  
"I know something happened to you. Who did that to your back?" he asked hesitantly.  
  
She let out a loud sob. Draco couldn't help but wonder if the dream he had had earlier had any significance. Warily, he stepped out of his bed, trying not to hurt his ribs even more.  
  
He walked slowly over to her bed, holding his side. When he got next to her, he seated himself next to her on the bed.  
  
"Tell me," he offered.  
  
She looked at him, debating whether or not she should tell her biggest nemesis a secret that not even her best friends knew about her. Draco seemed to read her mind.  
  
"It's ok, you can tell me. I won't let anyone know. Besides, Pomfrey has me so drugged up right now with her special pain-killer spell, which isn't really working, to tell you the truth, that I probably wont even remember what you tell me by morning," he told her.  
  
Hermione contemplated the situation and finally nodded. She needed to tell someone, she had been holding it in so long. She didn't care that Malfoy was her enemy. She didn't care about anything so long as she could let her secret be known, and take part of the burden off her shoulders.  
  
She sighed and looked up at him. He was sitting so close they were almost touching.  
  
She took a breath before starting, "It happened this summer. Three months ago, to be exact. I had been to a movie, it's a muggle thing, and I got home late. I was only a few minutes late. . ." she trailed off.  
  
Draco saw her face flush at the memories. He realized whatever it was that she was about to say was extremely personal to her and she didn't want it repeated. He reached down and did something he thought he would never do with Hermione Granger.  
  
He took her hand.  
  
At that moment, Madame Pomfrey hurried into the room. She took one look at Draco out of bed, and threw her arms into the air.  
  
"What in Merlin's name, do you think you are doing, Draco Malfoy? Do you realize that you could injure yourself even more by getting up? Shoo, back to bed, go to your own bed and lay down. You're hurting yourself even more by sitting up," she interrupted them.  
  
Draco glanced over at Hermione, who had turned very pale. She didn't look at him. He slowly got up off the bed and walked over to his own.  
  
Madame Pomfrey eased him onto the bed and turned him in the best position to keep his ribs from hurting as much. She gave him a vile full of a green liquid which she forced him to drink.  
  
It gave him a burning sensation as it went down. He saw the nurse walk over to Hermione's bed and do the same with her. He realized that she had given them the dreamless sleeping potion. He continued watching Hermione as he quickly dozed off into a dreamless sleep.  
  
~*~  
  
A/N: Hello there! I had fun writing that chapter. Well, I've finished that now, so I'm going to go now. R/R please! 


	6. the piano

Disclaimer: all I own is the plot, in no way, shape, or form am I jk rowling. Blah blah blah. You get the gist.  
  
~*~  
  
Thank you's  
  
~*~  
  
holy heck there are a lot of them! Since there were seriously about 20 reviews since I last updated. . .im going to say thank you sooooo much, all of you. If I wrote down everything, then it would probably take up 2 pages. So, thanks to all of you who reviewed and critiqued. I'll keep everything that was told to me in mind.  
  
~*~  
  
A/N: did I give a long enough cliffie? Hehehehe. Ok, sorry bout that. I had some wicked bad writer's block. I'm over it now though. . . this chapter is supposed to be really transitional, and I wasn't very sure how to write it. Hehehe, ok, on with the chapter then, eh?  
  
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Chapter 6  
  
~*~  
  
Hermione opened her eyes slowly, squinting at the light poring in from the open window on the other side of the room. She rubbed her eyes automatically and glanced to the bed next to her. Draco was gone. She wasn't sure if this was supposed to make her feel relief or disappointment.  
  
Madame Pomfrey suddenly bustled into the room, "Ah, you're awake I see. Here, drink this."  
  
Hermione sat up in the bed a little shocked that her back felt completely fine. She took the vile of liquid that the nurse held out to her and drank it down with a look of bitter disgust.  
  
"There you are then, you're free to go now," Madame Pomfrey announced.  
  
Hermione looked up at her relieved and silently slipped out of the bed to change into some real clothes.  
  
She came out from behind the curtain a few minutes later with a look of utter comfort on her face.  
  
Madame Pomfrey gave her a sympathetic look as Hermione passed her. She shrugged it off and left the infirmary.  
  
As she walked through the halls, she noticed people giving her strange looks from every corner. She sped up her walk into a slow jog, trying to get away from all the stares. As she came around a corner she slammed into Professor Dumbledore himself.  
  
He was a little surprised, as was she, "erm. . .sorry professor," she apologized.  
  
Professor Dumbledore's light blue eyes twinkled as he smiled at her, "Ah, just the lady I wanted to see. Follow me, please, Miss Granger."  
  
Hermione followed him wondering what was going on.  
  
"I have received a tip from an anonymous friend that you enjoy the piano, correct?" he asked.  
  
Hermione nodded slowly.  
  
The old professor smiled slightly, "Very well. I thought that maybe if you were to play one, it might take your mind off of. . .recent events."  
  
Hermione looked up at him and smiled questionably, "we have a piano here?" she asked him.  
  
"Of course we do. What with Beethoven being the most renowned wizard musicians the world has ever seen. . .it would be an injustice if we didn't have a piano here," he mused.  
  
They rounded another corner and Hermione found herself in a corridor she had never seen before. Dumbledore walked down the hall rather briskly for a man of his age, so much that Hermione had to fight to keep up.  
  
She then followed him into a classroom. There in front of her, standing in all its glory was the most beautiful grand piano she had ever seen, "Amazing. . ." she trailed off.  
  
Dumbledore's eyes twinkled lightly, "I'll leave you here now," and with that he turned with a flourish and walked out of the room.  
  
Hermione stared at the piano in awe. She walked over to it and sat down on the cool bench that stood before it. She fingered one of the ivory keys with a profound delicacy and then gently pressed down upon it.  
  
The noise was grandiose and beautiful. Smiling, she placed her remaining fingers over other keys and began playing. The chords rang through the silent room beautifully, sweeping everything that could hear with a passion that nothing else could fulfill.  
  
Her eyes watered as she played, but she continued anyways, blinking back the tears. Suddenly, she felt a hand upon her shoulder.  
  
She looked up, startled, "Ron!"  
  
He smiled at her solemnly, "Hey Mione."  
  
She looked at him inquisitively, "How did you know I was here?" she asked.  
  
"Marauder's map," was his answer, pausing before he continued, "Hermione, what happened last night?"  
  
Hermione shrugged, "Nothing, Ron, I'm fine."  
  
Ron shook his head, "No, you aren't, Herm. . .who gave you those scars? They were. . .horrible."  
  
She glanced away not wanting to speak, knowing that if she told him it would only hurt him and make him angry, "You would be angry if I told you, Ron. . .just forget about it."  
  
He was a stubborn one though. He shook his head again, rather defiantly, "Hermione, I know something is going on with you."  
  
She lifted her gaze up to him, "You shouldn't worry about me so much, Ron. I'm a big girl. I can take care of myself," she told him blatantly.  
  
"What I walked in on last night was reason enough to worry, Hermione. You're my friend, I'm supposed to worry about you" he explained.  
  
Hermione didn't say anything in response; she only looked toward the piano, her fingers aching to play it again.  
  
Ron must have noticed her gaze, because he finally gave up on the subject, "Play something for me," he requested, nudging her a little.  
  
Hermione smiled at him, relieved he didn't ask more. She placed her hands back on the piano and began playing a song that only her heart knew. The music was fluid and gentle, beautiful and full of emotion.  
  
Ron gazed at her as she played. Her eyes were closed and her soul purpose for living at that moment was to play what was in her heart.  
  
She was breathtaking to him. There was a beauty in her that she failed to realize, yet everyone else who had ever met her could see it as clear as day.  
  
His heart fluttered as he watched her. He loved how all of her focus was given to one particular thing, how she could just break away from reality by doing a thing she loved.  
  
The thing that he loved was her. . .and he was about ready to tell her.  
  
He noticed a piece of hair dangling loosely from her messy ponytail. Reaching up, he pushed it away from her face gently.  
  
The music stopped as she looked at him, "Ron. . .what's going on?"  
  
He looked at her solemnly, "I was so worried that something was wrong. . .I didn't know if you were dying. . .I'm so glad you're still here," he murmured.  
  
Hermione looked at him warily, "Why?" she questioned.  
  
He glanced down, then back into her beautiful brown eyes, "because if you weren't here, I wouldn't be able to do-to do this."  
  
And he kissed her. She was lost for a moment in shock, then she pushed away from him, "Ron. . ."  
  
He nodded, "I understand, I just wanted you to know."  
  
Hermione gave him a tearful look, "you know I love you, Ron. . .just not like that."  
  
He nodded again and without another word, left the room.  
  
She was alone again. She was about to start playing again when she heard a scuffling sound.  
  
She turned around and looked at the doorway.  
  
There Draco Malfoy stood with an expression of shock on his face. Hermione felt her cheeks go red as she looked away from him. A few moments later, he was gone.  
  
~*~  
  
Draco turned the corner that led to the Slytherin dormitories. His mind was full of confusion. He had just witnessed Ron kiss Hermione.  
  
And he felt jealous of him.  
  
Me? Jealous of Weasle? Over Mudblood? I must be drugged up still he thought to himself.  
  
He walked into his common room only to find Pansy waiting for him suggestively. He inwardly grimaced at the girl, but nevertheless he took her hand and dragged her into his room.  
  
~*~  
  
A/N: there, an update, way to go me! 


	7. The fight

Disclaimer: I AM NOT JK ROWLING AND I DO NOT OWN HARRY POTTER!!!. . . can I have draco, though? *grins* Ok, now that I've written that.  
  
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Thank you's  
  
~*~  
  
Nahima Tala: MWAHAHAHAHA. . .im evil. Hehehe. Alright then, lol, im glad you like the story. I gotta come check your stories out soon.  
  
Me: for those of you who do not know, that is Amanda. She's a nerd. She thinks im evil for leaving you guys wondering what is going on with hermione. Hahahaha. Ok.  
  
Chesnutbaby14: awww that's really sweet. Thank you so much. Lol, you made my day with that review. I think I'll keep my writing just as a hobby though. Im too much of a procrastinator to do it for a career. Besides, I don't think I'm that good anyways. Thanks again.  
  
Rav: hehe, she wanted more ron, so I gave him to her. hehe.  
  
Ellie Love: it was supposed to be like that. Draco calls ron "weasel" all the time. Thanks for reviewing again.  
  
complete*me: aww you're so nice. Lol, just for that im gonna hug ya back. *hugs back*  
  
Draco's one and only: hehe. Oh no, draco went with pansy!!! Lol, I like to make her look like a big slut. Its fun. . .i should do more of that, hehe. Thanks for the good review.  
  
Midnight-Primrose Riddle: *gasps* you love me, you really love me!! Lol, thanks for reviewing again.  
  
Sumeragi Kousei: you made my day too! Lol. . .I say lol a lot in the thank you's don't I? Meh, oh well. Thank you for reading my story all morning, I appreciate it. Thank you for reviewing me too.  
  
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A/N: hello.  
  
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Chapter 7  
  
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Draco rolled over in his bed sleepily. He yawned and began stretching as he opened his eyes. Pansy's face was two inches from his own smiling broadly.  
  
Draco almost fell off the bed.  
  
"Bloody hell, Pansy! Don't do that!" he hollered, and after taking a moment, he asked quizzically, "Why are you in here still? I thought I told you to leave after we were finished."  
  
She sat there smiling at him. She wasn't looking at his face, though.  
  
Draco glanced down, and upon turning red (although he wasn't sure why), he quickly covered himself with his sheets.  
  
Pansy looked a little disappointed, "Well, I did leave. . . but then I came back," she muttered seductively to him as she crawled toward him on the bed, "I wanted to see you again and have some more fun, but you were asleep."  
  
She giggled slightly, "but that didn't stop me from doing stuff to you anyways. . ." and with that she leaned over and tried to kiss him.  
  
He backed away from her, and his next words came out dripping with malice and disdain, "Get off of my bed, you idiot girl. I did not wish for you to stay the entire night. I didn't really like the way I woke up this morning, with you next to me. You're just a good fuck, and once a night, a couple of nights a week was fine, but then you decided to stay the whole night."  
  
His curiosity got the better of him, though, "And what in the bloody hell did you do to me in my sleep?!"  
  
Pansy was still smiling at him, obviously having not heard him much at all. She sat down on his stomach, and reaching behind her, she began massaging him. "That," she responded, leaning down trying to kiss him again.  
  
He looked at her in fury and pushed her off of him. He couldn't fight back the smirk that popped onto his face as he saw her lose her balance and fall off the side of the bed.  
  
A very red Pansy scurried as fast as she could to stand up again. She adjusted her flimsy silk lingerie top (A/N: remember, she had come back from her room later on, therefore, he was still naked while she was clothed when she came back down), and gave him a haughty look.  
  
"You have no idea what you have just done. Consider our little meetings over with!" she said, stomping out of the room.  
  
Draco smirked as he shouted after her, "you'll be crawling back ON YOUR KNEES within a couple of days, Parkinson!"  
  
He heard a loud "HMPH!" coming from the stairs and he leaned back against his pillows, satisfied that he had finally been able to get rid of the whore.  
  
~*~  
  
After awhile, he made his way down to the Great Hall for breakfast. As he sat down at the table, he noticed Pansy give him a snooty look. He mimicked her, laughing.  
  
She glanced down at her eggs and bacon and pushed the plate away from her, obviously not hungry anymore.  
  
Draco only smirked.  
  
He got bored with her rather quickly, and began glancing around the Great hall, his eyes finally resting on a small portion of the Gryffindor table.  
  
He noticed Ron first, because of his hair. Ron was watching something on the other end of the table, rather intently. Draco followed the red head's gaze and unexpectedly felt his heart jump when his eyes landed on Hermione.  
  
What the hell? he scolded his heart for being an idiot. Then he rolled his eyes at himself as he remembered that his heart was basically an inanimate object and it didn't need to be scolded.  
  
Yet, he still watched her. He noticed her head turn as she began looking down to the other end of the table as well. At first he had thought she was looking at Ron, but he soon realized she was not staring at Ron, but at Harry and Ginny.  
  
He raised his eyebrow at her when he saw her eyes narrow at the two of them, who had already began snogging, so soon in the morning. Hermione looked disgusted and angry.  
  
She began clenching her napkin in her fist, wadding it up into a tighter and tighter ball.  
  
Draco hadn't noticed Pansy watching him.  
  
Draco only watched Hermione, with an expression of confusion on his face, not paying any attention to Pansy as she made her way silently toward the Gryffindor table with a goblet full of pumpkin juice in her hands.  
  
Obviously, Hermione hadn't noticed her either.  
  
Draco jerked back to reality seconds before Pansy attacked Hermione.  
  
He tried to run over to her to stop her, having left his wand in his room during breakfast. He got there too late, though.  
  
Pansy stood above Hermione, who was still watching Harry and Ginny, and tilted the goblet over her head and allowed the contents of the glass waterfall over her.  
  
Hermione stood up sputtering and Draco rushed over to the two girls, who were now glaring at each other with such hate in their eyes, with such adrenaline going, that everyone in the great hall had stopped what they were doing to look watch them.  
  
Draco noticed that Ginny and Harry had finally pried themselves off each other long enough to watch too. Ron just sat there, mouth open in shock.  
  
Pansy was watching Hermione with a kind of amusement in her eyes. She walked toward her and stopped just inches in front of her. Pansy, being the taller of the two, leered down at Hermione, almost seeming to dare her to do something.  
  
Hermione looked up at her defiantly, her hands clenching and unclenching.  
  
The taller girl laughed at her, a screeching, high pitched laugh that made everyone around them cover their ears.  
  
Pansy took Hermione's silence as a sign of weakness and shoved her, "What is it, Mudblood? Afraid of a little fight?"  
  
Hermione remained silent, although she looked rather pissed off, hurt, and humiliated.  
  
Pansy waited for Hermione to answer her, and was a little shocked when Hermione only glared at her and turned around back onto the bench.  
  
Pansy glared at Hermione, getting extremely angry that Hermione wasn't going to do anything. She wanted a fight, and she wasn't going to leave until she got one.  
  
That's when she kicked Hermione in the back as hard as she could.  
  
Hermione let out a gasp of pain and her hands reached out and tried to hold onto where she had been kicked, but her arms just weren't long enough.  
  
She stood up slowly.  
  
Pansy watched her, smirking, becoming more and more amused with Hermione.  
  
Draco watched Hermione, unintentionally with a look of worry.  
  
Hermione suddenly spun on her heel and turned face to face with Pansy, centimeters away from her. Tears were threatening to spill from her eyes as she pointed a shaky finger at Pansy.  
  
"If you ever, ever do that again, I will. . ." she began, but Pansy interrupted her.  
  
"Do what?" she asked shoving her.  
  
"I'm warning you, Parkinson, don't you dare. . ." Hermione threatened.  
  
"Do you really think I'm scared of you, Mudblood?" Pansy asked her, shoving her again.  
  
Hermione lost her balance a little and bumped into Draco. She didn't seem to notice him, though.  
  
She faced Pansy again, her back towards Draco, "Look, I'm leaving. Grow up." She began to turn around again, but Pansy caught her wrist and violently twisted Hermione towards her again.  
  
Pansy wasn't expecting the fist that came with her.  
  
She let go of Hermione and clutched her cheek. Hermione tried to hit her again, but Draco caught her around the waist and pulled her close to him, very careful not to touch her back.  
  
"Stop it," he demanded.  
  
Hermione's eyes flashed with anger and confusion. She found herself very aware of Draco's arm around her waist, almost protecting her in a way. She shook her head at her thoughts.  
  
Hermione pulled Draco's arm from around her waist and ran from the room.  
  
"Miss Parkinson!" Professor McGonnegal's voice rang out. Soon, all of the teachers were crowded around Pansy, ushering her to an office.  
  
Draco stood there in shock. Ron scowled at him, and Ginny and Harry went back to snogging. Draco wanted to hit Harry for that, but he restrained himself. One fight was enough, after all.  
  
He surveyed the room, and quickly walked out of the Great hall.  
  
~*~  
  
Hermione ran blindly through the castle, tears of frustration and anger made it impossible for her to see where she was going. Her back was stinging in pain from where Pansy had kicked her.  
  
She finally collapsed on some stairs in a heap (A/N: hehehe). Her shoulders shook as she cried, her fingers clawed at her hair, her nails ripping at her skin. She was becoming way too violent to herself when Draco finally found her.  
  
Her back was to him again, and when he saw what she was doing, he ran up to her quickly and grabbed her flailing arms.  
  
She looked at him in surprise, "Get off of me," she muttered.  
  
Naturally, he didn't listen to her. He turned her around gently so he could see her back again.  
  
He half expected her to slap him as he pulled up the back of her shirt, and was extremely surprised when she didn't.  
  
Hermione looked straight ahead, as memories came flooding back.  
  
She tensed a little as she felt Draco trace her scars with his fingers.  
  
Draco was staring at her back intensely, as he ran his fingers along the scars.  
  
He felt her tense up from the touch, but he didn't desist. The portion of her back that Pansy had kicked were incredibly red and hot to the touch.  
  
"Does it sting?" he asked her. She nodded silently.  
  
Draco leaned closer to Hermione's back, and blew on the inflamed skin.  
  
Hermione shivered, "Why are you doing this?" she asked him.  
  
"Because I've been through this before. . .I think," he answered.  
  
Hermione tensed up even more, "What do you mean?" she asked nervously.  
  
Draco didn't respond for a moment. He put his finger to his tounge and directed the wet appendage to her scars. "My mom used water. . .but seeing as we don't have water, we'll have to make do," he told her, regarding his saliva.  
  
"What did you mean that you've been through 'this' before?" she questioned him again, nervously, hardly noticing at all that he was wiping his spit on her back. It was working, so she didn't fight it.  
  
Draco looked to the floor and with his voice cracking, said, "My father beat me, too."  
  
Hermione spun around at his comment and burst into tears. She stood up shakily, and after looking at him for a minute, she ran down the stairs, desperate to find the piano room.  
  
She ran from room to room looking for it, but finally, she gave up, sinking to the floor in an empty corridor and began to cry.  
  
Draco Malfoy, her biggest enemy, her arch-rival, her nemesis, had figured out her secret . .and had experienced it himself  
  
~*~  
  
A/N: oooooo.there you go! Chapter 7. You know Hermione's secret now. Yay. You happy, AMANDA?!! Lol. Well, hope you liked it. Bye bye. 


	8. the bathroom

Disclaimer: How many times must we go through this? I do not own any of the Harry Potter characters, plots, etc. I own my own plot. That's all. And a few other miscellaneous things that I bought, so there! *taps computer with a make-shift wand.* Accio Draco!. . .damn. I thought that maybe he would come to life. Oh there he is! *grabs him by the arm and drags him off* He is MINE damn you!!! All mine! How about I just start the chapter now, eh? Alright then.  
  
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Thank you's:  
  
~*~  
  
Rachel: thank you so much! See now? I have given you your wish.  
  
Indiviualists: thank you. I hope your Christmas shopping went well.  
  
Long: no no don't die! Hehe. I didn't think it was a cliffie. . . well, I suppose it was one sorta. I don't mean for the chapters to end up as cliffies. They just do it all by themselves. I swear.  
  
me again: yeah that would be Amanda again. She's not by best friend, I swear. . . *searches around for mean spies* hehe, you know I wuv ya.  
  
DemonWitch666: awww that's really sweet of you. I'm glad you like the story. Thanks for the good review.  
  
Midnight-Primrose Riddle: hehe. . .she still loves me. Mwahahahaha. Ok, lol. Thank you for review me again.  
  
Chrissy: lol, no the piano room didn't disappear. It's still there. Remember how Hermione had been following Dumbledore and when they got to the room she noticed she was in a hall she had never been to before? She just can't figure out where it is right now. She's full of emotion right now, and everything is confusing here. Thanks for reviewing.  
  
SIAS: *gasps* only since chapter 5? Oh you must go back more, lol, hey I was told that chapter 4 was a real humdinger.  
  
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A/N: that is allllllll of my reviews since I last updated. Wait, why am I still going on about reviews? On with chapter 8!  
  
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Chapter 8  
  
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Draco sat in the prefect's bathroom (A/N: of course he's a prefect, silly poo) contemplating over the night's events. He was waiting for the tub to fill up before he got in. The water poured into the tub quickly and within a matter of minutes, it was full of steaming hot water and soft blue bubbles.  
  
Draco stripped silently, all the while thinking about Hermione. As he eased himself into the tub, a picture of her back sprang into his mind. It shocked him to realize he cared so much for her well-being.  
  
what's going on with me? he asked himself as he leaned his head back, enjoying the feel of the smooth warm water gently caressing his body.  
  
Another image of Hermione flashed through his mind. He noticed that he was with her. She was standing close to him, and a storm was shooting lightening all around them.  
  
Draco suddenly slipped. The dream.  
  
But what did it mean? He was becoming frusterated. He knew that dreams were sort of a window to the soul, but the more and more he tried to figure it out, the more and more confused he became about what the dream could possibly mean.  
  
His confusion swiftly drew back to anger as he thought about the way she had run off crying when he had tried to help her. He didn't blame her. He blamed her father. He wanted to kill the bastard.  
  
No one deserved that kind of punishment, not even the one that he was supposed to hate. least of all her he thought to himself.  
  
Draco took a moment to look at his own scars, traces of Lucius's 'love' for his son. He remembered how his father always told him it was for his own good when he beat him, and he was just now beginning to realize that it wasn't for his own good, but for his father's own demented, sick pleasure.  
  
He lifted his arm out of the frothy blue bubbles, and after brushing them away, he took a closer look at his scars. Along his left bicep, a long gash had left a deep pink scar, severely contrasting with the white of his skin. He remembered that scar well. He and Lucius were out in the stables tending to the horses when Lucius suddenly grabbed his arm and cut into it with a long rusted nail.  
  
Upon falling deathly ill a couple of days later, his mother risked her own life and opted in taking Draco to a muggle hospital while Lucius was at a death-eater meeting. He couldn't have been more than seven years old. His father had later told him that it was punishment for brushing the horses coat the wrong way. Narcissa Malfoy was extremely distraught over her husband's ill-doings, yet she remained silent, for she knew her beatings would only be worse than her innocent child's.  
  
As the years went by, Draco found himself becoming closer and closer to his mother, while he tried to move away from his father, in fear of what might be done to him if he stuck around too close.  
  
Draco shuddered at the thought. His anger was rising even more as he thought of his own past. He pulled up his left arm again and gave his forearm a good look. Etched into his skin was a very small part of the dark mark.  
  
His face flushed as he thought about that night. The night he defied the dark lord.  
  
It was his induction ceremony. He was about to be initiated into a group of pure power, a group that killed for sport, mainly muggles and mudbloods. It was a group that wreaked havoc everywhere it went just so it could achieve more power.  
  
Lucius had literally dragged him out of the Malfoy Manor to get him to attend the ceremony.  
  
He had been scared shitless when he took those first few steps toward Voldemort, Lucius hovering over him like a hawk, with a tight grip around his wrist to ensure he could not get away.  
  
Even to this day, he wasn't sure what it was that helped him escape the clutches of Voldemort. No sooner than the wand had touched his skin to burn the mark into his flesh when something unexpected happen.  
  
Voldemort's wand was smoking from beneath it's master's hand, sending out sparks of green and red. Everyone turned to Voldemort with flabbergasted expressions.  
  
The pain and heat on Draco's arm was immense, yet he took the moment of weakness to his advantage and apparated on the spot, having learned how to do so years before from his father's futile attempts to teach him the dark arts. Oh, Draco knew them, all right, but he would never use them, not unless he was desperate.  
  
He had apparated to Diagon Alley where he stayed at the Leaky Cauldron for the rest of the summer. He had begged Tom, the innkeeper, to not tell Lucius where he was if he were to stop by ever. Tom had just given Draco a sympathetic look and nodded slightly at Draco's urgent request.  
  
Draco breathed in some air, and let it out slowly, feeling a little bit calmer by now. He closed his eyes peacefully as he thought more about Hermione, and less about his father. . .although he would never admit it to anyone that he was thinking of her.  
  
~*~  
  
Hermione had been sitting alone in the empty corridor for sometime before she felt like she should get up and go to Gryffindor tower. Her face was dry, yet streaked with tear stains, her hair zigging in and out every which way.  
  
She stopped outside of the statue of Boris the Bewildered on the fifth floor and muttered the password, "Pecan Peppers." The statue slowly slid over, allowing her access to the bathroom.  
  
She thought she had walked into a sauna for a second, but then shrugged when she realized someone must be bathing. She wiped at the mirror and looked horrified at her reflection. Oh Godsshe thought to herself. have I really been walking around looking like this?  
  
The mirror fogged up again. She silently scolded whoever was in the tub for making the room so steamy. After wiping the mirror several times, she suddenly seemed to remember that she was a witch, and pulling out her wand, she muttered a couple of words and all the steam evaporated on the spot, leaving the mirror clear to look into.  
  
She turned on the tap and gathered some cool water in her hands. She splashed her face a couple of times and then reached out blindly for a towel.  
  
Patting her face dry, she looked back at her reflection in the mirror. That's when she realized she wasn't alone.  
  
She turned around quickly, yelping at the sight of Draco asleep in the big tub. . .peaceful. . .relaxed. . .hair falling across his face. . .running out of bubbles. . .  
  
Draco woke up startled and slipped from his spot in the water, submerging his head under the hot liquid. He came up sputtering, obviously very surprised to see Hermione there looking at him with the same expression on her face.  
  
Hermione gulped, terrified, almost giving off a "deer caught in the headlights" expression. She stood there with her mouth open in shock, her eyes skimming him all over. Draco moved against the wall so he couldn't be seen anymore, now that the bubbles were gone.  
  
Hermione looked as if she was trying to say something, but instead turned around quickly, stuttering an apology.  
  
Draco looked at her, face flush from embarrassment. His expression of shock quickly morphed into one of solemnity. She looked so sad, and no matter how much Draco tried to deny it, at that moment he realized he would do anything for the girl standing in front of him.  
  
He promised himself that he would tell her soon. For now, though, he couldn't do anything. He wasn't ready to let her know about how he felt. He wasn't even sure how he felt himself.  
  
On the other side of the room, a very confused Hermione slowly turned back around and looked at Draco, who had managed to get a hold of a towel by then. She stared at the boy. . .no, man in front of her. Her eyes took every aspect of him in, from his gorgeous blond hair, to his chiseled torso, down to his muscular calves, then back up to his face, where his eyes, his typically emotionless pale gray eyes, now sending out waves of emotions, transfixed on nothing but her.  
  
Hermione's eyes darted to his lips for a split second, then to his left forearm. Draco thought he small a flicker of a smile dance onto her lips. He shook his head. no no no no no, this is Hermione Granger, for god's sake!  
  
Her eyes shifted to the floor, and Draco took a step closer to her. Both were silent as he moved toward her, finally stopping just a foot in front of her.  
  
She looked up at his face, desperately wanting to pull it close to her own. She restrained herself though, and from the looks of it, Draco was having a hard time trying to fight it back as well.  
  
Hermione forced herself to look away from his penetrating gaze, and taking a step back, she stumbled over her words.  
  
"I-I-uh, I b-better g-go," she muttered, still staring at her feet. Draco looked at her and nodded, "yeah. . ." He didn't want to her to leave, but after a second's more of awkward silence, Hermione blushed and walked unsteadily out of the bathroom.  
  
Draco watched her leave, his heart unexpectedly sending out a pang of heart- ache. He let himself fall back into the wall, and he stood there, leaning against the wall for support, desperately trying to figure out what was happening.  
  
~*~  
  
A/N: yup, shorter chapter than usual. Oh well. I couldn't resist the whole bathroom incident, because I know how clichéd and overused it is, lol, but darn it, I couldn't help it. He's just so darn cute. . .especially with those bubbles going away. . .mwahahahahaha. 


	9. the meeting

Disclaimer: blah blah blah. I do not own harry potter. Blah blah blah.  
  
~*~  
  
Thank you's  
  
~*~  
  
Hikari no Suta: in response to your first review: hehe, I've read that story too. I think. I thought it was pretty cool. In response to your second note: if you do not know what you're talking about. . .here's a solution-fuck off! Yippee skippee. If you had bothered to read correctly, you would have noticed that Draco was taught to apparate by his father a few years earlier. You also should have known that the Malfoy's don't exactly follow the rules. So yes, I know that it is illegal to apparate until you are graduated from Hogwarts, but if you know how, and someone is trying to kill you. . .wouldn't you just go ahead and get the hell out of there? Yeah. So don't review me unless you know what your reviewing, please. Dumb ass.  
  
hippogriffs-rock: Harry is going to get what he deserves, believe you me. Ginny's just there. I like the girl and all. . .but I don't know enough about her to keep writing her in. It would just get boring. Not that this fic isn't boring anyways. . .jeez, my last chapter sucked.  
  
The Lost Weasley: hehe, nakie Draco. *drools a little bit* mwahahaha. . .  
  
dEsTiNy: awww. . .thank you so much! You have just become one of my favorite reviewers! *grins*  
  
killing-dance: be patient, lol. I like to make Harry look like a jerk once and awhile, lol.  
  
Love: I guess you'll find out now about what happens this chapter. . .well, after a couple of more thank you's, that is.  
  
Draco's one and only: *sighs* I wish I was Hermione to see Draco naked too. . .*drools all over again*  
  
Sony: hehe thanks sony. YOU CANNOT GO OUT OF TOWN FOR MONTHS!!!! I WILL NOT ALLOW IT! NO! damn you being a singer and a model and an actress and all that good stuff. Damn you to. . .awww I can't damn you Sony. I wuv ya!  
  
Sumeragi Kousei: Down with Harry!! Hehe, I love him. . .just not in this fic. . .yet, at least. I dunno, we'll just have to see.  
  
SIAS: *laughs* don't I feel like a bit of a dumbass, eh? Hehe. *hides because I have no common sense*  
  
Zaccyzac: awww, zac, didn't you like to see draco naked? Oh wait, you're not gay. Never mind.  
  
Midnight-Primrose Riddle: you make me smile. :-D hehe, every time you review me its in all caps and all excited and everything. It makes me happy. Yippee skippee!  
  
Ellie Love: why thank ya thank ya. But I could not wait to get to your review, cuz I got make you a shout out. Everyone who is reading this, go check out her account. She has a bunch of really good songfics, some will move you to tears, I swear. She likes a lot of Buffy, too. I don't really like Buffy but oh well. All her Harry Potter fics are good. . .and they would be even better if she finished any of them!!! Darn you! Finish the fics! You're song fics are good, but I also wanna know how the real fics turn out!! Lol, come on, write, girl!  
  
Jenie: I don't know what I would do if I got to be alone in a bathroom with a naked Draco. *sigh*  
  
Raven Black: ok, so you didn't review. . .but I don't care, you need to be ungrounded!! And write you're stories! Go do it now! I order you!  
  
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A/N: sorry this chapter took so long to get out. I had finals this past week and other stuff, but well lookie here, its chapter 9.  
  
~*~  
  
Chapter 9  
  
~*~  
  
Hermione rushed from the bathroom as quickly as her legs would carry her, which wasn't very fast, mind you, since her nervousness in the bathroom had caused her knees to wobble for all they were worth. She ran through the empty corridors only stopping when she came to the portrait of the fat lady that led into gryffindor tower.  
  
She shouted the password desperately, in fear that her knees would buckle from her shaking. The portrait opened quickly and she ran into the common room only to come face to face with Ginny and Harry snogging. . .again.  
  
She felt her legs shift under her, and suddenly she was on the floor, and Ginny and Harry were looking at her with strange looks on their faces.  
  
She couldn't help it. She began to laugh. She laughed at her clumsiness, she laughed at her humiliation, she laughed at the bathroom incident, and she laughed at the two teenagers in front of her. She laughed until tears fell from her eyes and splashed onto her cheeks.  
  
Harry stared at her with his mouth open, an incredibly confused expression on his face.  
  
"Errr. . .Hermione? Are you. . .ok?" he asked apprehensively.  
  
Hermione's shoulders convulsed with silent laughter, and soon she was laying sideways on the floor, her hands in front of her on the ground, trying to calm herself.  
  
She desperately tried to stifle her giggles as she answered him, "I'm just fine." She burst out laughing all over again. She had been tired of crying. It was all she ever did anymore. She didn't want her emotions to show so easily anymore. She wasn't going to wear her heart on her sleeve anymore. Instead, she would do the opposite. And at this moment, it was to laugh.  
  
Harry gave her a cross look, one that told her that he didn't believe her at all, "Why are you laughing so much? I mean, don't get me wrong, it's good to see you laugh again, but bloody hell, I've never seen you laugh this much!" he told her.  
  
She broke into another fit of giggles and lifted her arm to point at him. She looked straight into his eyes and replied, "Maybe I've lost it."  
  
It was a joke, naturally, but Harry was wondering if she perhaps wasn't joking as much as she let off. After all, fifty percent of what a person says when they are joking is in fact true, that way you could say what you wanted without hurting anyone, and Harry got the idea that she might be doing just that.  
  
He didn't say anything to her though, instead he just nodded his head and cracked a smile, to let her know he understood it was a "joke." Ginny sat back down on the couch while Harry walked towards Hermione.  
  
Her laughter receded as he approached her steadily, warily. He was looking into her eyes, trying to find something in them that would tell him what was going on, and she, sensing what he was doing, went completely silent and shielded her eyes from her emotions within. She looked at him blankly.  
  
He was extremely close to her now, and all she wanted to do was reach out for him, hold him, kiss him, love him. But she couldn't, and that angered her.  
  
Harry noticed her eyes flicker with something. . .some sort of emotion, but he couldn't figure it out, for the look was gone as quick as it had come. Instead, he put his hands on her shoulders, and looked deeper into her eyes, and even though he couldn't tell what she was thinking, she knew without a doubt what he was thinking.  
  
The look in his eyes was an apologetic one, a look that told her he was sorry for all the pain and hurt he had caused her, and with that one look, he took her into his arms and enveloped her in a tight hug.  
  
At first she tried to resist it, she put her hands against his chest and pushed on him, but he only pulled her in tighter. She was defenseless. She didn't like feeling defenseless.  
  
Her hands tightened into small fists, and began to lash out against his chest, silently pummeling him with an anger, a sadness, a fear. She couldn't let people get close to her again. Not this time. She remembered the last time she had gotten close to someone.  
  
He had beaten her. The attack on Harry's chest slowed as she thought back to that night, and he caught her hands with his own, trying to disable her from hitting him. He glanced at her face, and noticed that her eyes were transfixed on nothing in particular, that they just stared into oblivion, as if there was something there that he could not see. He pulled her closer to him and watched her face all the while, wondering what exactly was going on with her.  
  
Hermione's face went slack as the memories flashed before her.  
  
~*~  
  
It had been night. The rain had been pounding mercilessly. She had gotten out of the car after the movie, and ran down the path to her front door, sopping wet by the time she had gotten to the overhang of the porch.  
  
The door opened at the same time that the lightening flashed, and for a minute she had thought she was staring into the face of pure evil. The thunder cracked loudly, causing her to jump, as she looked into the eyes of the man before her. . .her father.  
  
He was staring at her venomously, as if he would attack her at any moment, if she moved one foot out of line.  
  
"Its past curfew Hermione. Did I ever tell you what would happen if you ever missed curfew?" he spat vehemently. It was obvious that the man was drunk.  
  
Hermione quivered slightly as she shook her head, wondering if he would ever let her in the house.  
  
The burly man in the doorframe stalked out of the house briskly, slamming the door behind him.  
  
Hermione stepped back, and asked him shakily, "Where's mum?"  
  
He laughed heartlessly, shrewdly, almost. . .evilly. "Oh my dear child, didn't you know? She went to visit friends while you were missing curfew. I wouldn't expect her back for quite awhile if I were you." He advanced on her.  
  
She tried to back away, but after only a couple of steps, she found her back against one of the pillars that held up the overhang. There was nowhere to run. She looked up at the man she had thought was her father with pure terror in her eyes.  
  
"D-d-daddy. . .you're sc-scaring me," she whispered with fear.  
  
He glared at her, "Don't you dare try to weasel your way out of this with that daddy nonsense, do you hear me? You messed up. Now you must pay the price. You must respect the consequences of your actions."  
  
She smelled the strong aroma of liquor on his breath, "Y-your d-drunk, Daddy."  
  
A hard calloused hand found its way to her face, striking her with such brutality that she fell to the ground. He tried to pull her up, but she scrambled away from him and stood over on the edge of the porch, staring at him with such panic.  
  
He picked up the bat that had been leaning against a chair and threw it at her. It hit her hard, and she tumbled off the porch, hitting the muddy ground below her with a sickening splat.  
  
Her father ran down the steps of the porch and was soon down by her, still with a look of pure animosity in his eyes. She looked up at him in terror, and before she knew what was happening, he was ripping off his belt, and had her pinned on her stomach in no time. He pulled up her t-shirt so that the only thing between her and the belt was air and her bra strap.  
  
She quaked. No sooner had she wondered what he was about to do when she felt the hard leather slap against her back. She screamed out in pain, but her terrified yell was lost in the storm, gone with the wind.  
  
The belt lashed into her back again and again, getting harder and faster with each blow. Blood trickled down the bright red flesh, mixing with the rainwater and mud. She could hardly breathe, and her back was getting tremendous white, puffy whelps where it had been hit. Long slivering whelps snaked across her back, leaving no room for anything else.  
  
Her father finally receded and let her up, "If you ever put a foot out of line again, girl, you will get something much worse than that. You can count on it." With that, her father turned quickly on his heel and walked back to the house.  
  
Hermione lay in the mud, her back scorching with pain, and a heat she had never felt before. It was as if it were on fire, and she shrieked into the raging storm as darkness fell around her.  
  
~*~  
  
Harry had become startled as he heard the girl in his arms shriek. Her face had gone from slack and emotionless to one filled with anger, hatred, rage, pain, fear, and pure terror. It was stark white, and her eyes were wide, her mouth open still from the shriek she had just let out.  
  
Ginny had jumped up from the couch and rushed to the two of them, confusion in her eyes. She watched as Harry shook Hermione, trying to get her to snap out of the trance she was in. Ron too, had heard the shriek and had come racing down the stairs, his hair disheveled, and a small amount of dry drool on his cheek.  
  
He bounded over to where the three were standing, two of them with horror and confusion on their faces, and the other with just plain horror on her face.  
  
He reached out for Hermione, and leaned over to her, with his hands on her cheeks, brushing the fair skin lightly, trying to soothe her from her troubles. He pulled her closer to him and kissed her forehead, and then her cheeks, trying to get her to do anything at all, to snap out of it someway.  
  
Suddenly, unexpectedly, Hermione took a step back from those around her. She looked from one, then to another, then to the other. Her face hardened as she looked at them, her eyes narrowed, and she turned on her heel and walked down to her prefect's bedroom.  
  
Her three friends watched her retreating form in shock. What was going on?  
  
~*~  
  
Draco stared at his reflection fearfully. For once in his life, he was in fear of what was going on with him. He'd never felt anything like he did now before. Even when he was with his father, when he was being beaten to a bloody pulp, he had never been this scared. He felt as if something was going to happen if he didn't do anything. Something bad.  
  
He dressed quickly and he hurried out of the bathroom towards Dumbledore's office. Why he was going to the old bat's office, he didn't know, he just felt that that's where he need to go at that moment.  
  
He stood in front of the gargoyle that blocked him from his headmaster, searching his mind for anything that the professor might use as a password. He racked his brain for anything to use, and he was becoming extremely frustrated when Dumbledore himself appeared at his side, as if he had popped up out of nowhere.  
  
"Could I be of any assistance, Mr. Malfoy?" Draco heard the headmaster say.  
  
Draco nearly had a heart attack from seeing Dumbledore right next to him, "P-Professor. I, uhh, err, I'm actually not quite sure why I'm here. . .I just. . ." he trailed off.  
  
Dumbledore's eyes twinkled. "Ah, yes, Mr. Malfoy. Follow me."  
  
Dumbledore led Draco into his office after stating the password (beetle berry bandit) and motioned for Draco to have a seat before seating himself in front of him.  
  
"Something tells me that there is something that's bothering you. Perhaps, something you have never felt before, correct?" the old headmaster asked him.  
  
Draco nodded silently.  
  
Dumbledore smiled knowingly, "It hurts to love someone and not be loved in return, Mr. Malfoy, but what is more painful is to love someone and never find the courage to let that someone know how you feel. . ." the old wizard trailed off.  
  
Draco looked up suddenly, his eyes meeting Dumbledore's in shock. Did he just read his mind?  
  
"How did.how did you know?" he asked sheepishly.  
  
Dumbledore stood and walked around for a bit. Draco was getting frusterated at the old wizard's pacing when he finally stopped and looked at the teenager before him, "Let desire be your destiny, Mr. Malfoy. You need to stay open. Lightening could strike."  
  
Draco stared at him, his mind back on the dream that he had had. "Lightening could strike. . ." he repeated slowly. Draco looked up at Dumbledore, the words spilling out of his mouth in a rush, "What if. . .what if this girl. . .was sad? I mean, really, really sad? What if I don't know what to do to help her? What if she gets so lost in her pain that she can't ever return? What if. . ."  
  
Dumbledore lifted a hand to stop him, "Mr. Malfoy, sometimes when the door of happiness closes, another one opens, but often times we look so long at the closed door, that we don't see the one which has been opened for us until it is too late."  
  
Draco was getting angry. What the hell did that mean? Dumbledore must have noticed his frustration because he explained.  
  
"Apparently, Mr. Malfoy, this girl that you have fallen for. . .she wasn't always this sad, was she?"  
  
Draco shook his head, "she's never been like this until this year."  
  
Dumbledore nodded and then continued, "Something happened to her this summer, something horrible. Something that has caused her to turn her. . .back. . .on the world. She is still so lost about what happened this summer, that she forgets to look ahead. What happened this summer is the closed door, Mr. Malfoy. . .and you. . .you need to be the other door for her. If you really love this girl, you need to be there for her, and force her to see the open door, otherwise she will go crazy looking back on the closed one. Lead her, Mr. Malfoy." The headmaster paused, and as if he read Draco's mind (again), he stated, "Dreams are predictions of the future, Mr. Malfoy. If there is something you do not like about a dream, that aspect of it needs to be changed."  
  
Draco stared at the wizard, "Do you know who I'm talking about Professor?"  
  
The old wizard nodded silently.  
  
Draco's eyes veiled his uneasiness as he spoke, "why her. . .why did it have to be her?" he asked more to himself than to Dumbledore.  
  
"The heart has reason which reason cannot understand, Mr. Malfoy."  
  
Draco nodded slowly. He still didn't understand anything, the only thing he did understand was that he needed to help her, and he needed to help her fast. He stood up rather quickly, and he swayed a little as his brain began working again.  
  
"Thank you, sir," he told the headmaster as he rushed out of the office.  
  
He heard Dumbledore call out to him as he left, and the phrase stuck with him as he jogged back down to the slytherin common room: "Love conquers all, Mr. Malfoy, love conquers all."  
  
~*~  
  
A/N: holy hell that was long. Hmmm, hope you liked it. 


	10. the realizations

Disclaimer: don't own Harry Potter, am not jk rowling, draco is not mine, unfortunately.  
  
~*~  
  
Thank you's  
  
~*~  
  
Amanda: lol, why it reminds you of matt, candise, and I. . .I have no idea. Whatever you say there, manaize, lol.  
  
Katie Crickett: hehe, strangeness. . .anyhoo, everyone should go check her out, cuz her stories are good. I promise.  
  
DracoNmione: I wrote you an email about your review, I hope you got it. The review was helpful, but could you elaborate on what you did or didn't like, please?  
  
Cowgirlkk12: thank you. Well, im writing again, lol.  
  
Draco's one and only: does she know she has draco??? Hmmm. Not yet. . .hehehehe.  
  
lost-wanderer: ok, Mr. "Lets make fun of the writer". Hehe, I'm just kidding zac, you know I love ya.  
  
Hotvollyballgrl: thank ya betsy! Hehe.  
  
Midnight-Primrose Riddle: Aww, this girl makes me so happy about my story, lol, she's always really nice and hyper to me in her reviews, hehe.  
  
Me. . .: hmm, who is this me? *grins* don't worry, the draco and mione scenes will be here before you know it.  
  
~*~  
  
A/N: I'm not sure how this chapter is going to turn out, so bear with me, please. I swear (I hope) next chapter will be a lot smoother.  
  
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Chapter 10  
  
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Harry could not dislodge the confrontation with Hermione earlier that day from his mind. He remembered the look on her face, the one of pure horror, and how she had suddenly just wiped the look from her face, becoming unreadable, much like a certain ferret he knew.  
  
'What was going on with her?' he wondered. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't think of anything that could be the matter with her, except for himself, of course. He sighed and reached down to the floor by his bed and picked up one of his shoes.  
  
It hit his target perfectly in the back of the head. A once snoring Ron woke up quickly, startled by the hard clunk on his head. Harry snickered.  
  
"What'd ya do that for, Harry?" he asked while rubbing the small lump that was beginning to surface under his hair.  
  
"Sorry about that, Ron. I couldn't sleep. Had to talk to you," Harry explained rather dully.  
  
Ron grimaced, "you could have just. . .you know, shook me awake. But no, you had to throw a bloody shoe at my head."  
  
Harry chuckled a little, but then his face turned serious, "Can we go down to the common room?" he asked.  
  
Ron scowled, "Can't we just talk about whatever it is in the morning? I'm tired."  
  
Harry got to his feet and dragged Ron out of his bed, "Come on lazy, I really need to talk to you."  
  
Ron landed on the floor by his bed with a thump. He stood up rubbing his bum and nodded silently.  
  
The two walked down to the common room as quietly as possible. Once down there, Harry began speaking.  
  
"Ok, do you have any idea about what's going on with Hermione?" he inquired.  
  
Ron shrugged.  
  
"Has she said anything. . .or even done anything that might explain whatever it is she's hiding?" Harry tried again.  
  
Ron thought about it for a moment, and the memory of her scars resurfaced. His eyes went wide as he muttered, "Scars."  
  
Harry's faced twisted with confusion. "Scars?"  
  
Ron nodded, "Yeah, she has scars, all over her back, long thin puffy ones. She wouldn't tell me what happened, though."  
  
"Why didn't you tell me, Ron? She's my best friend too, you know."  
  
Ron's face went red, "Well, if she wouldn't tell me, I know she would really have not wanted you to know."  
  
Harry looked at him, "What is that supposed to mean, Ron?"  
  
Ron shrugged, "It means that, well, you turned your back when she needed you the most, and. . .real friends just don't do that to each other," he finished.  
  
Harry looked abashed. Had that really been what he had been doing to her? He just let his mouth drop as he realized how much he must have hurt her.  
  
Ron looked over at him apprehensively, "You're not. . .you're not going to, I don't know, hurt me or anything, are you?"  
  
Harry didn't seem to hear him, "She must hate me."  
  
Ron shook his head, "I don't think she hates you. I think she's just really hurt. She liked you for the longest time, and, well, you never really seemed to notice it. Just like I liked her for the longest time and she never noticed it. But I already know now that that isn't ever going to happen for me."  
  
Harry glanced over to his friend, "Why's that?"  
  
Ron turned red, "I kissed her."  
  
Harry looked at him expectantly, "and?"  
  
"And she turned me down. That's ok, though. Sure it sucks to no end, but I still have her, that's really all that matters." He told him.  
  
Harry nodded, "But none of this really explains the scars, though, does it?"  
  
Ron stood up, "We have to talk to her about it, Harry."  
  
Harry sighed, "I know. Hey, where're you going?" he asked as Ron began walking out of the common room.  
  
Ron turned around, "I'm going to talk to Hermione now, Harry. Are you coming or not?"  
  
"I didn't know you knew where the prefect's bedroom was." He told him.  
  
Ron smiled, "Of course I do, now come on."  
  
Harry followed Ron down the hall. Ron stopped suddenly and Harry had to reach out and grab the wall to prevent himself from running into him.  
  
"Why'd you stop?" he asked.  
  
Ron looked at him blankly, "We're here."  
  
"oh," came the response.  
  
Ron pulled out his wand and poked the fifth brick from the floor with it, "Hello."  
  
Harry looked at Ron as if he had grown three heads, "Err. . .hello."  
  
Ron laughed, "No, Harry, it's the password."  
  
"The password? Hermione's password is hello?" Harry asked skeptically.  
  
Ron nodded, "See, watch."  
  
And watch he did. The fifth brick from the floor rotated slightly, and the two boys heard a click. A door materialized in front of them.  
  
Ron took a breath, "Well, here goes nothing," he muttered as he reached out and turned the handle.  
  
~*~  
  
Hermione was staring at the ceiling of her room when she heard the door open. Without turning from the ceiling, she called out, "Ron, what do you want?"  
  
A voice called out in the darkness, "illuminate."  
  
Every candle in her room sparked with flame. Hermione looked over to the doorway and saw Harry and Ron.  
  
She glanced away, "What do you two want?"  
  
Harry cleared his throat, "We needed to talk to you."  
  
Ron nodded, "Yeah."  
  
Hermione made no response.  
  
Ron sat down on the bed and looked down at her, "What's the scars from, Hermione?"  
  
It was the question she had been dreading. Harry sat down on the bed too, and by then, Hermione was beginning to feel incredibly crowded. She stood up and walked over to her bookshelf.  
  
"Hermione. . ." Harry started.  
  
Hermione whipped around, "What?!" she snapped, "What happened to my back is not you're business, its not anyone's business except for my own. Its between me and my fath. . ." she trailed off realizing her mistake.  
  
Ron looked at her curiously, "Hermione. . . What does your father have anything to do with this?"  
  
Hermione backed into a corner, unresponsive, unemotional, no trace of life within her. She was practically dead, only breathing and going through day- to-day routines without a thought. Her soul was practically gone.  
  
Harry had a sudden realization, "Hermione, did your father give you those scars?"  
  
Hermione's chin quivered a little and a single tear splashed down her cheek. She wiped it away quickly, but the two boys had already seen it.  
  
They both stood and walked over to her.  
  
"Mione. . ." Ron mumbled as he reached out to hold her.  
  
Hermione ducked away and ran out of the room, leaving Harry and Ron stunned, frozen in their slippers.  
  
~*~  
  
Draco had been sitting in the Slytherin common room for quite awhile when he felt a hand brush along the arch of his ear. His body tensed up and his hair pricked up on end.  
  
Suddenly a girl was in his lap kissing him and trying to undo his belt. Draco looked into the girl's face surprised. He grimaced when he saw who it was.  
  
"Get off of me Pansy," he told the girl as he pushed her off of him.  
  
"Don't you love me anymore, Draco? Don't you want to feel me under you again, Draco? Don't you want me to kiss you again, Draco?" Pansy asked as seductively as she could pull off.  
  
Draco scowled and stood up, "I never loved you, you were always just an easy lay, and I sure as hell don't want you to kiss me again," he responded as he wiped off his mouth where she had kissed him a minute ago.  
  
Pansy grabbed his arm as he was trying to leave the room, "what? Do you have yourself another girlfriend? Who could it be? Perhaps it's Blaise, or even that little Ravenclaw. . .what's her name again? Oh yes, Cho. Maybe its her. Do you like them more than you like me? Is that it? Do they feel better to you? Do you want them more than you ever wanted me?" she screamed with jealousy in her eyes.  
  
Draco tried not to laugh in her face, "That's the thing you've never understood, Pansy! I've never wanted you! Did you ever once see me go to you to have sex? No, it was ALWAYS you. I just went along with it, but not anymore, Pansy. Not anymore."  
  
Pansy's eyes glowed with jealousy, "Who is it then?" Pansy paused as something dawned on her, "Could it be. . .is it that little mudblood whore? That bitch? Of course it's her. I'm sure she isn't giving you special treatment, Draco, she's probably laid every guy in Gryffindor! That slut. No wonder Potter and Weasley are always excited to see her. She would probably do anyone, even her bloody father."  
  
Draco slammed her against the wall.  
  
Pansy licked her lips, "Oh, Draco, I just love it when you play rough."  
  
Draco's face was red with anger and veins were bulging out of his neck, "Don't you ever, EVER speak about her that way again, Pansy. She isn't a whore, she isn't like that. Just because you are, doesn't mean everyone else in the world is. If you ever speak about her in front of me like that again, you will be sorry you ever met me."  
  
Pansy face screwed up into a scowl and the jealousy returned in her eyes, "So it is her, then. Of course it is! I remember what happened in the Great Hall. YOU protected HER. YOU grabbed HER instead of ME. YOU put YOUR arm around HER waist. YOU held HER back. I tried to fight her and YOU held HER back. You've changed, Draco. The old you would have just watched the fight and smirked, congratulating me afterwards with a midnight rendezvous. You've turned into a complete pussy, Draco Malfoy."  
  
Draco released her, "You know what, Pansy? You're absolutely correct. Completely, utterly, fantastically correct. And you know what? I don't give a fuck if you don't like it. Now get out of my face, bitch."  
  
Pansy looked at him defiantly, "I'm not going anywhere."  
  
Draco smirked, "Fine, I'll leave."  
  
With that, he turned on his heel and left the room.  
  
~*~  
  
Hermione found herself wandering through the corridors aimlessly. She finally stopped when she found herself in a hall she vaguely recognized. She walked through it cautiously. At the end of the hall she stopped triumphantly.  
  
She had found the piano room again. She walked in silently and sat herself on the stool, letting her fingertips brush against the keys lightly. She closed her eyes as she began playing, the melodic tune drifting throughout the room.  
  
The tune turned darker as she thought about the scars and who had put them there. The sound vibrated through the room like thunder. She began to play a song she had learned once that she had forgotten the name of. It had been something like the raindrop melody.  
  
The beginning started off silently, softly reverberating throughout the room, it got more dramatic and as she reached the crescendo where the thunder rolled harmoniously, tears flew to her eyes and ran down her face. She kept playing though, her tears splashing against the keys like actual raindrops.  
  
When the crescendo ended, she went back to the lighter, higher pitched keys, as if the rain was drizzling away, as if the storm had passed through.  
  
She sat in front of the piano and wept. The tears came uncontrollably. She had stopped playing and her face was in her hands, her shoulders shaking violently. She couldn't stop herself. She couldn't fight the tears that kept coming. They splashed down her cheeks, down her arms, onto her robes, onto the piano. She felt so alone in the world, so in the dark.  
  
A voice appeared in the darkness, "Lumos."  
  
Hermione turned on the stool and looked into the doorway. She watched as the figure pointed it's wand at her, spreading the light that emanated from it. . .from the figure. The figure that stood in the open doorway.  
  
~*~  
  
Draco Malfoy stood staring at the girl in front of him, bathed in the light of his wand, and he realized that he had never seen anything quite so beautiful in his life. He walked over to the girl and sat next to her.  
  
"Hermione. . ."  
  
~*~  
  
A/N: ok, how bad did it suck? Meh, oh well. 


	11. the piano room revisited

Disclaimer: you know the drill. I don't own Harry Potter and all that stuff, although I wouldn't mind owning Draco Malfoy.  
  
~*~  
  
Thank You's  
  
~*~  
  
SIAS: hehe I left a long cliffie.  
  
Ellie Love: yes I know it was graphic.  
  
Amanda: grr to you and your review manda, grrrrr.  
  
artsgirl15: *gets all giddy with excitement* yay, she thinks I write well.  
  
FredWeasleysgurl4ever: *grins* ok ok, here you go! No, I don't mind if you use the plot, its most likely been used before.  
  
lost-wanderer: ya big meanie always pickin on me  
  
heather: im writing see, im writing!  
  
DemonWitch666: yeah, harry is a bit clueless, isn't he? Hmmm. . .i don't know if I should change that. I'll think about it though.  
  
Cowgirlkk12: your wish has been granted, me lady.  
  
Draconmione: I tried to not make it do that, but it sorta happened like that.  
  
Kickedoutofthegoblet: aww thanks man  
  
Midnight-Primrose Riddle: *sigh* I've always loved your reviews, but this one is by far the best.  
  
Hotvollyballgrl: im spiffy.  
  
kris10michelle: hehe, here ya go.  
  
Amber: hehe thanks  
  
Katie Crickett: hmm you get two thankies in one chapter, you must feel spiffy.  
  
Sonia: im glad you think I write so prettily, lol.  
  
Leika Senara: thank you!  
  
DragonGirl: thank you for the review and thank you for wishing me fun at my dad's!  
  
Midnight-Primrose Riddle: you get two thankies too! Wow.  
  
~*~  
  
A/N: that was a bunch of thank yous. Hmmm, can I have even more next time??? I'll love you all forever!! Read and review read and review read and review!  
  
~*~  
  
Chapter 11  
  
~*~  
  
Hermione stared at Draco in confusion. "Wh-what are you doing here?" she asked softly.  
  
Draco's lips pulled into a tiny smile. "I remembered you were here before, so I figured this is where you would most likely be."  
  
"Why would you even care where I was?" Hermione asked petulantly.  
  
Draco glanced at her. "What's that supposed to mean?"  
  
"Do you always answer a question with another question?" came her response.  
  
"Do you?" he retorted. He glanced at her; she really wanted to know why he was there, he noticed. Her arms were crossed over her chest and she was chewing on her bottom lip nervously. "Fine, I was worried about you. There, you happy?"  
  
Hermione sat there looking baffled. She just couldn't seem to comprehend why he, of all people, was worried about her. "You were worried about me? You? Mr. Perfect, hater of all things Gryffindor, Slytherin legend?"  
  
Draco rolled his eyes. "Come on! You're smarter than that. You say I'm perfect, but I'm not, I've got no real friends, every girl who likes me is really only after money or something along those lines, I do not hate all things Gryffindor, in fact, I like one particular aspect of Gryffindor a lot, and a legend? Far from it. If I'm such a legend, then why is it I'm so lonely? Tell me, Granger, why is it I'm so lonely? I've never trusted a single soul, never. . .not until. . .well, never mind that, but what my point is, is that you've got me all wrong, I'm not who I used to be. I know I used to be an arrogant little bastard, and I'm sorry about that, really, I am, but I've changed," he finished.  
  
Hermione sat there for a second before responding. "How have you changed? Ok, so you've been nicer than usual to me, but that's only because we share the same secret, I'm sure that if I was like I used to be, you would have absolutely nothing to do with me, I would still be mudblood Granger or something like that. Do you know how confused I am when I'm around you? Do you? I came to Hogwarts this year feeling one thing, and now. . .I feel something completely different, and it baffles me! I feel so vulnerable around you, like you could do something to hurt me at any moment, and I wouldn't be able to do anything about it. When I'm around you, I put my heart on the line, and I don't know why I keep doing it. I mean, you're Draco Malfoy, for cripes sake! What point is there in putting your heart on the line when the person on the other end probably won't even try to catch it? There isn't any point to it. Yet, I keep doing it, look at me right now, I'm rambling incessantly, expressing my emotions to YOU. How do I know what you'll do with them? I don't know. How do I know what I'll even do with them?"  
  
"You'll follow your heart, that's when you'll know what to do with them," he mumbled.  
  
Hermione threw her arms in the air. "Follow my heart, he says. You know what the tough part about following your heart is? It's what people forget to mention. Sometimes your heart takes you places you shouldn't be. Places that are scary as they are exciting. And as dangerous as they are alluring. Sometimes your heart takes you to places that could never lead you to a happy ending. And that's not even the difficult part. The difficult part is, when you follow your heart, you leave normal. You go into the unknown. And once you do, you can never go back. . .ever."  
  
It was Draco's turn to be peevish. "You know what's wrong with you, Miss I- can't-follow-my-heart? Your chicken. You've got no guts. You're afraid to stick out your chin and walk forward. You call yourself a smart person, a free spirit, and you're terrified somebody's going to stick you in a cage. Well you know what? You're already in that cage. You built it yourself and it's not bounded on the west by Hogsmeade, or in the south by London. It's wherever you go, because no matter where you run, you just end up running into yourself. I know what your father did to you, mine did the same thing, but face it, Hermione, it's in the past. It might hurt, but you gotta let it be in the past, because that's the only time you'll ever find true happiness. You can't go through life with your head down, the only things you can look at from that point of view are your feet, and I'm sure your feet are outstanding, but lets face, it, that isn't the only thing you want to see for the rest of your life. You want to look forward, not down. You want to look ahead, search for your future, fall in love, do all the things you've always wanted to do. You have to stop feeling sorry for yourself or you'll get nowhere in life. Face the facts, Hermione. There is absolutely no point in sitting around and feeling sorry for yourself. The great power you have is to let it go. . .you focus on what you have, not which has been mean, or unkindly removed."  
  
Hermione glanced up at him. "What about you? You don't seem to be looking forward every time I see you. You look about as happy as me most of the time. Why is it that you can tell me to look forward when you don't even do it yourself?"  
  
"I'm looking forward now."  
  
Hermione tutted, leaning against the piano. "Oh really? And what do you see?"  
  
Draco muttered something under his breath.  
  
"What was that? I didn't quite hear you," she prodded, her foot tapping impatiently on the floor.  
  
Draco lifted his face so his eyes met hers. "I see you."  
  
The foot jiggling stopped the moment the words left his mouth. Hermione sat there staring at him with an expression of utter confusion on her face.  
  
"What?"  
  
"I see YOU, ok, Hermione? I see you. I can't get you out of my head, no matter how hard I try. It just doesn't work. I've tried everything, but the matter of the fact is, is that you are irrevocably stuck in my head. And you know what else? I don't want you to leave."  
  
Hermione sat there in silence for a while, letting it all sink in. Was he serious? How could he be? Draco Malfoy wanted Hermione Granger. . .it just wasn't possible. Was it?  
  
She spoke suddenly, breaking the awkward silence that had fallen between them. "Everything you've said here tonight. . .you've made me forget anything else existed. It just can't be real."  
  
Draco's gray eyes pierced Hermione's brown ones, "It's the most real I've ever felt."  
  
Hermione shook her head, it couldn't be real, there was no way. "What exactly are you saying? What do you mean by it's the most real you've ever felt? What do you mean?" she whispered.  
  
"It means, Hermione, that I think I'm in love with you."  
  
She blanched. "What??"  
  
Draco rolled his eyes, "Dammit, Hermione, if you can't listen, then you have to feel."  
  
He leaned forward, his hand on her cheekbone, rubbing the soft skin lightly. She looked up at him with tears in her eyes, from happiness or fear or sadness, he couldn't tell. He brought his other hand up to the other side of her face, caressing her cheek with the utmost gentleness.  
  
Hermione closed her eyes, her breaths were becoming quicker, and she shook every time she inhaled. She sighed slightly before looking back up at him. His caresses were filled with warmth and kindness, and she found herself leaning into his hands. It had been so long since she had been touched, lovingly, at least, and she tried to savor as much as she could. No longer was this Draco Malfoy, her archenemy, her nemesis, her rival, but Draco Malfoy, the one person that could save her from the cruel and harsh world, the one person that she belonged to.  
  
"Feel what?" she asked softly, almost incoherently.  
  
He brought his thumb down to her mouth and brushed it over her lips. She trembled under his touch, her lips parting slightly.  
  
"That," came his soft reply.  
  
Hermione stared into his eyes. The eyes she had hated for so many years, the ones that seemed as if they were ice for the longest time. There was something in them that she had never seen before. . .passion.  
  
She gulped slightly before she spoke, "My lips are numb. . ."  
  
Draco gave her a crooked smile and leaned in closer to her. Their lips were no more than an inch away from each other. Hermione's heart quickened as he brought his hand to the nape of her neck, his fingers gently dancing through the waves in her hair. Slowly he pulled her closer to him. She closed her eyes in anticipation, and then, finally, his lips were on hers. She sighed as he parted her lips with his tongue, deepening the kiss.  
  
It had started out slowly, and it got a bit more playful, until finally, there was a full fledged war going on between their lips, their tongues, there innermost desires poured out into the other's mouth, passions that had just been found collided as they shared the one thing that held any real value, the one thing that could tell two people how they really felt about each other. A kiss. . .so simple, yet filled with so much power and emotion.  
  
They broke apart after a while, forced to come up for air. Both of their faces were flushed, cheeks tinged with red, both breathing hard, trying to catch their breath, foreheads pressed together, hands clasped tightly to the other's hands. Draco gave a small laugh. "Believe me, your lips are not numb."  
  
Hermione gave him a small smile before going in for a second go around. It seemed as if they were on that stool for centuries, neither of them quite quenching their thirst for the one across from them.  
  
As they stood up to leave, Hermione glanced at Draco, before looking down at the floor, unable to hide the huge grin on her face.  
  
Draco lifted her chin. "What?"  
  
Hermione smiled wider before answering him. "For the longest time I thought I would never love anyone. Then you showed up. . .and, well, I just realized that I've loved and hated the same person."  
  
He laughed a little. "That goes for me, too, I guess. Kind of funny the way things turn out, isn't it?"  
  
Hermione nodded, still unable to control the smile her face wore. She was happy, and it was because of him, Draco Malfoy, of all people, had made her happy. And she wouldn't have it any other way.  
  
~*~  
  
Lucius Malfoy stood by the fireplace in his manor, reading and rereading the letter he had just received.  
  
'Dear Mr. Malfoy-  
  
Draco has fallen for that mudblood Hermione Granger. He thinks he's in love with her, but I'm working on changing that. Then again, maybe you could change it more than I could ever possibly hope to. . .  
  
-Pansy Parkinson'  
  
Lucius balled the letter in his hands, his features darkening as he threw it into the fire. His son would have to be punished. . .and soon.  
  
~*~  
  
A/N: so? How is it? This is the first time I've ever tried to write something romantic like, so bear with me. Sorry if it was bad, I'm new at this. Ok, well, read, review, and have a fun time doing so! 


	12. the dungeon

Disclaimer: I still don't own anything related to Harry Potter, unless you count some bits of merchandise, but that's about it. So yeah, no suing.  
  
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A/N: ok, ok, ok, I had a really long long delay, didn't I? Basically, I had a huge bout of writer's block. Frankly, I don't like how this story is coming along. Hopefully I can change it to be a wee bit better, but I wouldn't expect many more chapters, its almost finished. I think. Ok, well, here goes, Chapter 12. Don't hate me too much if it sucks. Lets just give me a fair chance by saying. . .I warned you.  
  
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Thank you's:  
  
~*~  
  
Thank you to everyone who reviewed. I appreciate it.  
  
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Chapter 12  
  
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Weeks went by, and everything seemed to be going well. Draco and Hermione kept their relationship secret, sneaking kisses and touches when no one was around to notice anything; Harry and Ron were as clueless as always, perhaps even more so, if it were at all possible. Hermione felt as if her life was finally going the way it should go: happily.  
  
Little did anyone know that there was a cruel force out to destroy the two love-struck teens. No one knew about the serpent that stalked the corridors, following Draco silently, mutely. No one saw it slithering around in the shadows, meticulously studying the ways of Draco, how he would glance over at Hermione when he thought no one was watching, how he suddenly seemed more confident in her presence.  
  
The serpent followed Draco on one of his secret rendezvous' with the witch he claimed to love. It watched the two spitefully, as they ran their hands through each other's hair, a fire-like passion burning like embers in the depths of their soul. It watched as their lips collided with such a force that it could have sent a tidal wave over the ocean.  
  
This serpent was no regular serpent. (A/n: obviously. . .gah, this really sucks.) In fact, inside the body of the serpent dwelled the soul of a man, a corrupt and evil man, overflowing with thoughts of revenge and spite. It was the soul of one very angry Lucius Malfoy, well, as close to a soul that man could get.  
  
He watched vigilantly as his son shared the one thing that showed someone how much they cared, a kiss, with a mudblood, a wretched, filthy muggle. Oh, how ashamed he was of his son. He would have to be taught a lesson, no matter how much it hurt him.  
  
~*~  
  
Neither Draco nor Hermione noticed the serpent in the shadows, or how it changed into the form of a man within seconds. They were oblivious to everything except to each other, that is, until they heard the cough.  
  
They quickly jumped away from each other as Draco pulled out his wand pointing it towards the murky shadows in a corner of the darkened room.  
  
"Who's there?"  
  
Instead of a verbal response, they instead watched as a figure stepped out of the shadows at an agonizingly slow pace. Draco swallowed as the figure stepped more into the light. It lifted its head slowly, and Draco's heart wrenched in fear as he stared into the eyes of his father, eyes filled with a fury he had never seen before, even when he was being beaten senseless.  
  
Instinctively, Draco stepped in front of Hermione, acting as a shield to whatever his father might throw her way. She had backed into a wall, the fear evident on her face. His father's lips pulled into a wicked smile, and a malevolent laughter escaped from his throat.  
  
Draco tightened his grip on his wand as he noticed his hand shake slightly.  
  
Lucius gave him a poignant look. "Expelliarmus." In a second, the wand was out of Draco's hand.  
  
A sneer crept across his father's face. He walked over to Draco briskly and held his wand to his son's head. "You might want to get out of the way, son."  
  
Draco didn't respond. He only stood there, motionless, not willing to leave his post in front of Hermione.  
  
"Feeling a bit rebellious, are you? Oh, how your naïveté sickens me. Imperio!"  
  
Draco felt his body fall into a silent stupor. His head became clear, and only somewhere far back in his mind did he hear himself screaming out. He tuned the sound of his voice out, and stood completely relaxed.  
  
"Get out of the way, boy."  
  
Draco heard himself far away screaming to stay put. He didn't listen to it, though, and he felt himself take a step to the side. Hermione now stood completely vulnerable to his father's wrath.  
  
~*~  
  
Hermione stood transfixed, her sole focus on the man in front of her who had now turned his wand from his son onto her. His lips curled into a dastardly sneer. "Crucio."  
  
Hermione screamed out in pain as she felt her body twist into unnatural positions. Her bones popped at the joints, and she was acutely aware of a dislocated shoulder. For minutes, Lucius held her in the air, writhing and distorting, and all of a sudden, he dropped her.  
  
She landed on the ground hard, her head connecting with the hard stone floor. She directed her gaze toward the tall man before her and yelled an obscenity in his direction before she allowed the darkness to triumph over her. (A/n: this sucks this sucks this sucks).  
  
~*~  
  
Hermione awoke in a place she did not recognize. Her head was pounding, her vision was blurred, there was a sharp pain somewhere in the pit of her stomach, and her right arm was completely numb. Where was she? She tried to stand, only to be overcome by a sudden wave of nausea, and fell to the ground gagging and spitting.  
  
She wiped at her eyes trying to be able to see better, and her vision slowly returned to normal. She was in a cell of some sort. The room was no bigger than a large closet, with a small opening at the top of the door with bars over it, allowing air into the tiny enclosed area.  
  
She had never been much of a claustrophobic, but at this moment she was increasingly aware of the tightness of her surroundings, and how stale the air was. Some sort of dust lingered in the air, making it difficult for her to breathe. She gasped for air, only to receive a mouthful of chalky dust. She coughed and tried standing again, feeling a little bit better in the stomach.  
  
She lifted her left hand to the bars on the opening of the door, and pulled herself up as much as it was possible with only one hand and took a breath. It was a bit better, but not much. She strained a little, trying to look through the opening, which was slightly up higher than her line of vision. She saw a fairly large room, most likely a dungeon, and squinted her eyes trying to make out the details of the room, which was slightly dark.  
  
Shadows played against the stone walls of the dungeon, an effect of the dancing candlelight that must be somewhere in the room. There was no sign of anyone at all. She was completely alone. Well, at least, so she thought.  
  
A voice reverberated through the darkness. "So nice to see you up. I dare say, you're looking quite dreadful. Come, you must get cleaned up. I don't want to see you, a mudblood, filthier than you already are. Perhaps we should hose you down. . .or maybe we should just keep you dirty, you are, after all, only a mudblood, no reason for any special treatment in your direction." A loud, conniving cackle filled the room.  
  
The door Hermione had been leaning against suddenly whipped open and she fell hard against the cold damp floor underneath her. Her elbow let out a sickening crack as she hit the floor. 'Great,' she thought, 'a broken elbow AND a dislocated shoulder. . .on the same arm.'  
  
Her eyes watered a little, but she stood nevertheless and faced Lucius bravely, showing her Gryffindor courage. Her knees trembled as the man looked her up and down, and she became extremely aware of how she was dressed. Her school uniform was ripped and hanging off her body in some areas, revealing exposed flesh that she just couldn't hide. Her pleated skirt had a huge rip down the side, exposing the cotton of her undergarments, which were also ripped to a certain extent. What had happened to her while she had been unconscious?  
  
She placed her hands around her body trying to protect herself from being undressed by Lucius with his eyes. He was making her increasingly uncomfortable, and the look that glinted in his eyes made her shudder. He stepped closer to her, and she took a step back. He pointed his wand upward and cried out, "Illuminate!" Candles flashed on all around the room. In a corner, she saw Draco tied to a chair, his eyes wide at the setting around him, letting out a cry that was stifled by the gag in his mouth.  
  
Lucius turned towards his son. "This, my boy, you will watch. No blinking, no moving, just watching. Stupefy!"  
  
Draco was suddenly stiff, but his eyes were still moving, darting between his father and Hermione. They were wide in terror and hate, smoldering with anger as they went onto his father.  
  
Lucius advanced on Hermione, who let out a small shriek as her back hit the wall behind her. She was trapped. Her eyes welled with tears as he stepped right into her. He yanked her arms up and pinned them against the wall, and she yelled in terror as she felt his fingers tracing the soft flesh on her stomach. She looked up at him in horror as he brought his mouth to her neck, and bit it hard, drawing blood.  
  
She heaved the air as his tongue swirled around her neck, leaving sticky trails of saliva along her skin. Tears streamed down her face as she looked to Draco, whose eyes were flashing with anger as he watched his father doing the unthinkable. She gasped in pain as he bit down on the hollow between her shoulder and her neck, leaving a large bruise in its place.  
  
Hermione couldn't move, Lucius had pinned her to the wall so hard. He swiveled his hips into her, and she felt another wave of nausea overcome her as she felt a bulge grinding into her leg.  
  
She let out a strangled cry. "Stop it, stop it, please," she begged.  
  
Lucius simply responded by placing his mouth of hers. She screamed into his mouth, and felt his tongue trying to gain access. She clamped down on it hard. His eyes widened and he pulled away from her.  
  
"Stupid mudblood bitch!" he shouted, muttering a spell to clean up his mouth. He raised his hand and slapped her hard across her face, his knuckles connecting solidly with her cheekbone. Her face instantly began to swell and the tears stung at the corners of her eyes. Draco's eyes narrowed even more.  
  
Lucius pointed to Hermione. "You just made a big mistake, mudblood. Big mistake."  
  
With that, he wrenched her from her spot on the wall and flung her to the ground. He straddled her stomach and clawed at her clothes, ripping them off of her body. She screamed and shrieked from under him, twisting and turning, trying to escape. Her efforts were to no avail, though, and he hastily ripped off the remainder of her clothes.  
  
Tears fell down her cheeks in heavy dollops and her eyes were wide in horror. Lucius muttered a spell to bind her to the floor and he stood to rip off his own clothes. Hermione felt another wave of nausea rise in her as Lucius shoved his member in her face, forcing it into her mouth. She gagged and refused to do anything with it.  
  
Lucius slapped her again and pumped into her mouth. After awhile, he pulled out her mouth and instantly shoved himself into her womanhood. She cried out in pain as she felt herself tear, and she struggled to get out of his grasp. She was hyperventilating by now, her breaths short and deep.  
  
Her fighting wore off as she began giving up, and she instead focused on Draco, whose eyes were watching her in pain and sadness. She kept her focus on Draco as she felt Lucius pump into her more and more, ripping and tearing her in her most sensitive of areas. She never averted her eyes from Draco. They kept on him steadily, as his were on hers, both of them unable to do anything but wait it out, and watch each other.  
  
~*~  
  
Draco watched as his father stole the most valuable thing Hermione had to offer, and his blood boiled at the sight. How he hated the man. He would kill him for taking Hermione. He would murder the bastard. . .as soon as he was able to move, that is.  
  
~*~  
  
A/N: *wide-eyed* What? Don't look at me like that. *takes a step back from all the people looking at me strangely* ok ok ok, so it started out bad, I think, but well, as graphic and violent and nasty and whatever other word you want to add to the list, as it ended, I must say, I like it more than I thought I would. Sorry if I offended anyone in any way. I didn't mean to. That's what came out when I wrote, so don't be angry if you think it's the wrong thing. 


	13. the surprise

Disclaimer: its my birthday today, give me draco!!! Dammit, I thought that might work. But it is my birthday, so that's nifty. I own myself now, cuz im 18. (January 28)  
  
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Thank you's:  
  
~*~  
  
lost-wanderer: I left dear old zaccyzac here speechless.  
  
Freak like me: wow, thanks. It should be about 5 more chapters, if I did my calculations correctly.  
  
Snickerdoodle: lol, rambling is fun, hehe. Thanks for the good review.  
  
MellonKidd: lol, lucius is a wanker I don't like him much.  
  
BlueFrost: sorry I left you hanging for so long. Don't worry, they'll both get whats coming for them.  
  
Selvagem: thanks Shannon, that's really sweet of you. You're swell. Haha, I just thought of leave it to beaver, yup im a nerd. Oh well. That last chap was unexpected wasn't it? Hehe.  
  
Sweet Sorrow: hehe, I kinda forgot about harry and ginny didn't I? Ehh, im not even sure how I left them off the last time I talked about the two of them.but yeah, they'll be together.  
  
kris10michelle: I got a little nauseated myself writing that. But its true, lucius would probably do that. Humiliate muggles for all they're worth.  
  
Draco's one and only: lol, yeah, your review was a tad graphic. Lol. But its ok, it made me laugh. Thanks.  
  
Kickedoutofthegoblet: yeah I had to change the rating to r with that last chapter. Definitely not pg13 stuff, is it? I hope your midterms went well.  
  
Misfit: yeah, I try to keep them in character but they keep trying to stray away, lol. But thanks for the review.  
  
ellie-bob: im writing  
  
Keres: lol, I loved your little inferences in your review. Especially that last sentence. But anyhoo, lol, yeah darn that lucius!  
  
Jamie Anderson: hey thanks, that's really cool. Yeah, I didn't know how graphic to make it, I was a little bit scared to write more. . .but that turned out okies.  
  
Hermhermi: that was actually my initial idea, but I decided to make it lucius instead. It seemed like it would be more serious and disturbing for hermione if it were lucius.  
  
irelandkicksass03: hmm, slow and painful, eh? I'll think about it, lol. And you're right, Ireland does kick ass.  
  
Midnight-Primrose Riddle: awww I just heart your reviews!  
  
DemonWitch666: hey you're right, duh. . .hello to me. *slaps hand to forehead*  
  
OK EVERYONE, WHEN LUCIUS SAID "STUPEFY!" HE WAS REALLY SUPPOSED TO SAY "PETRIFICUS TOTALUS!" OR SOMETHING ALONG THOSE LINES, SORRY ABOUT THE MISTAKE. *FEELS LIKE AN IDIOT* LOL, SORRY ABOUT THAT MISTAKE AGAIN.  
  
Kelly: im writing im writing! Lol  
  
Fider: hey thanks, don't worry, I'll finish it.  
  
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A/N: wowza, lots of reviews. . .thanks to all of you again, and sorry, again, for my errors with the stupefy/petrificus totalus thing. My bad.  
  
~*~  
  
Chapter 13  
  
~*~  
  
Harry awoke abruptly as the sun decided to shine in full glory the next morning. It was Saturday and there was a scheduled trip to Hogsmeade for everyone in third year and higher. Groaning, he pulled himself up and surveyed the room. He and Ron were the only ones still in the room.  
  
Harry stifled back a laugh as he watched Ron smack his lips together and let out a sputtering burst of air, and in the process of turning over, smacked himself in his sleep. Harry continued to watch for a few moments before he got out of his bed and walked over to Ron's.  
  
He stood over the sleeping form of his best friend for a moment, contemplating how to wake him up, and eventually just threw off his covers and grabbed him by the foot, pulling him off the bed and onto the cold stone floor.  
  
Ron sat up groggily and looked up at Harry, who was standing over him triumphantly, a huge grin on his face. He gave him a sneer and reached up towards the bed and pulled down his pillow and blanket, intent on just sleeping on the floor if Harry was going to drag him off his bed.  
  
Harry snickered and pulled Ron to his feet. The red head now stood face to face with the raven-haired boy. Ron's eyes narrowed at Harry, and he looked like he would punch him if he made another move. He was certainly not a morning person.  
  
At that moment Ginny ran into the room. Ron whirled around, staggering a bit at his sudden movement. She paused for a second, raising an eyebrow at the two before she proceeded in telling them why she was there.  
  
"Hermione is gone! She didn't come to the dorm last night and she wasn't here when we all woke up. She missed dinner and half of her classes yesterday!" Ginny stopped, taking a breath.  
  
Harry was looking at Ginny curiously, while Ron was still trying to process what his little sister had said. "Wait, what?" Ron asked dazedly.  
  
Harry smacked Ron on the back of the head, "She's gone, Hermione is gone!" he explained as Ron rubbed at the spot where Harry had hit him.  
  
"Hermione's gone? Where is she?" he inquired.  
  
Ginny rolled her eyes, "Really, Ronald Weasley, you are the densest person in the world when you wake up! If we knew where Hermione was, then we would go get her, wouldn't we? But, seeing as how we haven't a clue as to where she is, we're all scared and worried."  
  
Ron looked confused for a moment before it finally sunk in. "Oh! Hermione's gone!"  
  
Harry and Ginny rolled their eyes at each other before Ginny left the room to let them dress.  
  
~*~  
  
Things got even stranger as the three headed down to the great hall for breakfast. As they sat down at their table, they listened to the rumors buzzing around the great hall, and they all had to do with two people.  
  
Harry leaned over a little to catch what Parvati Patil and Lavender Brown were saying to each other.  
  
"Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy have both been missing since yesterday after Potions. No telling where poor Hermione is if she's with that Draco Malfoy," Lavender explained. Parvati interrupted, "but, oh my, isn't Draco dreamy? I mean, if I were Hermione and off somewhere with Draco Malfoy. . ." she trailed off in order to fan herself with her hand.  
  
Harry cringed at the thought of Draco Malfoy, king of ferrets, and Hermione Granger, queen of the library, being stuck somewhere together. He shook Ron's shoulder, and Ron had to catch himself so he wouldn't fall face first into his oatmeal. He gave Harry a look of contempt before listening to what he had to say.  
  
"We need to talk, come on," Harry said as he stood and started to drag Ron away from the table.  
  
"I can walk, you know," Ron mumbled as he tugged away from Harry's grip. Ginny followed closely behind them.  
  
The three walked out of the Great Hall and down the corridor. Harry stood in between Ron and Ginny as he explained. "Hermione and Malfoy have been missing since yesterday after potions. Knowing ferret boy, he probably kidnapped her or something."  
  
Ginny had a look of apprehension on her face. "Harry, I don't think that even Draco Malfoy would do that. He may be annoying and mean, but I don't think he's that evil."  
  
Ron snickered a little, "you sound like Hermione in second year, Gin, when she said she didn't think it was Malfoy letting the basilisk loose. . .oh shit, I can't believe I just said that." He smacked his forehead and looked over to Ginny. She only shrugged.  
  
"It's ok, Ron. It's been five years since all that Tom Riddle stuff. I'm ok now. Don't worry. You aren't going to send me into depression by saying that." She consoled him.  
  
Ron let out a sigh of relief, but nevertheless walked around Harry and threw his arm over Ginny's shoulders. Harry was staring down the hall at nothing in particular.  
  
"Guys, what are we going to do? We have to find Hermione," he stated quietly.  
  
Ron's eyes hardened in concentration as he thought of where she might possibly be. The three had stopped by a suit of armor to pause to think. From down the corridor, they heard the squealing laugh of none other than Pansy Parkinson. They all hid behind the armor.  
  
As Pansy got closer, they were able to catch what she was saying. She paused in front of the suit of armor they were hiding behind.  
  
"Drakie and that mudblood bitch have been secretly together for a little over a month, sneaking into empty classrooms and kissing and holding hands. It makes me sick! She's turned my Drakie soft. So, naturally, I had to do something about that. . ."  
  
Pansy was interrupted by the person she was talking to. "Pansy, I hate to say this to you, but Draco was never YOUR Drakie. . .and don't call him that, for bloody sakes. It makes him sound like a two year old. Who cares if he's been with Granger? Frankly, I say it's about damn time. The two were so obvious in the past, especially Draco. Every time he insulted Granger he would come into the common room looking as if he had just killed a puppy on accident. Face it, Pansy, it's always been Granger for him, he just never realized it until recently." The person she was talking to turned out to be Blaise Zabini.  
  
Ron, Harry, and Ginny stood there dumbfounded, trying to comprehend everything the two were talking about. Ron was beginning to look angry. She had chosen Malfoy over him? He remembered the night he had kissed her by the piano. He had walked out of the room, right into the bloody ferret. Pansy's voice broke his thoughts again.  
  
"Your wrong Blaise, it's always been me! He loved me, before that mudblood came into the picture! He lost his virginity to me! I lost mine to him! He's mine! I love him, and he loves me, Granger just put a spell on him or something! That's why I wrote to his father. I had to let him know what his son was doing with a mudblood! That's why Drakie and Granger are missing! Because of what I wrote! I hope Lucius kills that mudblood, humiliate her rotten then kill her! Drakie is mine! MINE MINE MINE!" Pansy's eyes were blazing with an undecipherable flare.  
  
Blaise put a hand over Pansy's mouth. "What the hell are you talking about, Pansy? Are you saying that you were so jealous of Granger that you would want her dead, at the hands of Draco's father? You stupid bitch. I'm Draco's best friend, Pansy. Draco tells me things about his father. He told me about Granger, how he had never felt like that with any other girl, and what his father would do to him if he found out! You say you love Draco, but you just killed him! Do you have any idea what his father would do to him, did you ever pause to think about that? His father is going to kill him, as soon as he's done with Granger, he's going to come after Draco! You stupid stupid idiot!" Blaise had her hands in her hair, practically pulling it out in frustration.  
  
The three behind the armor were stunned. They watched as Blaise bit her nails nervously as she continued. "Where are they, Parkinson?"  
  
No answer.  
  
"Where the fuck are they you idiot?!" She had grabbed Pansy by the shoulders and was shaking her vehemently.  
  
Pansy gave her a piercing glare. "At Draco's manor, dungeons. . ." she replied aloofly. There was a gleam of insanity in her eyes as she stared Blaise down. Then she walked away, leaving Blaise standing by the armor, a tear of frustration rolling silently down her face. She sat down on the floor by the armor, pulled her knees to her chest, and placed her head in her hands. The three watched silently behind her as her shoulders shook with every breath she took. A few minutes later, she stood, wiped off her face, and walked down the corridor towards the great hall, ready to go to Hogsmeade.  
  
~*~  
  
Harry, Ron, and Ginny stood by the fireplace in the Gryffindor common room, floo powder ready. Well, almost.  
  
"Let me come Ron!" Ginny begged. Ron shook his head. "No, Ginny, it's too dangerous. You're not coming, so stop trying to."  
  
Ginny stared down her brother but finally gave up and ran up to the girls side dormitory. They heard the door slam and winced. Harry looked at Ron, and he nodded. It was now or never.  
  
Harry threw down the floo powder as he stepped into the flames. "Malfoy Manor!"  
  
Ron followed closely after.  
  
~*~  
  
The two found themselves in some sort of room of the manor. The room was a midnight blue color, etched with silver. In the corner stood a wardrobe filled with old Hogwarts robes. A picture of a gorgeous blond woman, whom the two recognized as Narcissa Malfoy, stood by the bed on a nightstand. An old firebolt stood in another corner of the room, dusty and untouched. Upon inspection, the two realized it was Draco's old broom, and this must be his room. Ron stared at everything. "Who would have known," he began, "that Draco Malfoy had a room that wasn't done up in Slytherin colors?" Harry nodded slightly behind him.  
  
"Come on, we need to find Hermione," Harry simply stated as he began walking towards the door. Ron began to follow but stopped again quickly. "Wait, they'll see us!" Harry gave a small grin and fished out his invisibility cloak from the inside of his robes and threw it around his shoulders. Ron let out a sigh of relief as he got under the cloak as well.  
  
At that moment, the door opened, and Lucius Malfoy waltzed in with another man, carrying a screaming and kicking Draco. Ron and Harry noticed the boy had tears streaming down his face, red with fury. They watched as the two men threw him on the bed, the back of his head connecting hard with one of the bedposts. Draco struggled to get up and tried to lunge at his father.  
  
A second later, Draco was crumpled on the ground by the wardrobe, nearly thirty feet from where he had started. Lucius shoved his wand back into his robes and walked out of the room with the other man, locking the door behind them with a charm no spell could undo.  
  
Harry and Ron stood speechless, eyes going back and forth between the locked door and the unconscious Draco in heap on the floor. They were trapped.  
  
~*~  
  
A/N: Hey look guys, chapter 13, yay! Aint it just spiffy? Well, anyhoo, you took the time to read, so hell, why not review while you're at it? Sorry that nothing really big happened in this chap. Don't worry, in chapter 14, I wouldn't be surprised if I started getting flames for what I'm going to write in that chap. Lol, but for now, you'll just have to wait. Bye bye. 


	14. the duel

Disclaimer: Nope. . .I still do not own Harry potter at all, so don't sue me. Even if you did, you would get like a quarter cuz that's about all I have right now.  
  
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Thank you's:  
  
~*~  
  
BlueFrost: cruel? Pshaw, lol, yeah yeah yeah, here's your next chapter, lol.  
  
ellie-bob: you're welcome  
  
betsy: there's still a few chaps before its finished, my friend, lol.  
  
Jamie Anderson: I got the best birthday present from her!!! she gave me Draco! Yay! Lol, thank you for that and the critique. Meh, Ginny'll be a little OOC, lol, oh well. Hehe.  
  
not sure yet: my god, that was the longest review I have ever received, lol, thank you! Wowza, im glad you like my story, hehe. Anyhoo, yeah you spelled lucius malfoy's name wrong, in answer to your question, but you did spell hermione's name right. I used to spell it hermoine. Lol, its okies.  
  
Selvagem: in trou-ble are they? Hmmm we'll see. . .good luck with that competition.  
  
Hurdlingbaybe06: oh man your review cracked me up. I even i.m.'ed it to one of my friends when I read it, lol, thank you so much for that review. It was great.  
  
lost-wanderer: ahhh shaddup zaccyzac, here's your chapter 14.  
  
Sex & Diamonds: you haven't reviewed me in forever! Lol, I'm glad you decided to. Your reviews never cease to make me laugh. (  
  
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A/N: don't flame me too horribly for what I'm going to write in this chap, ok? Warning: this will be a long long chapter.  
  
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Chapter 14  
  
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Harry and Ron stood fixated on Draco, bloody and lifeless, torn and battered. They stepped closer to him slowly, looking for some kind of life. When they got to his feet, they pulled the invisibility cloak off their shoulders, and bent down for a closer inspection.  
  
Draco's chest rose and fell forcefully, as if he were straining to keep his breathing controlled. Harry bent down next to Draco and motioned for Ron to do the same.  
  
"I need your help, Ron. I'm no medi-wizard, but together I'm pretty sure we can heal him." Harry told him quietly.  
  
Ron looked at Harry as if he were telling him to jump into a cage full of spiders. Harry glared back at him and Ron bent down on the other side of Draco and pulled out his wand.  
  
"Alright, Ron, seeing as how we don't know where all his wounds are, internally and externally, we should probably just do the full body healing charm." Ron looked at Harry quizzically.  
  
"What's that one again?" he asked, scratching his head. Harry rolled his eyes.  
  
"Its like 'petrificus totalus', but instead of petrificus, say mendus. Are you still with me?" Harry answered sarcastically.  
  
"Shut up Harry, I'm not a total dolt." Ron shot back.  
  
Harry smiled slightly, "ok, now you start at his feet, and I'll start by his head, and we'll work our way down, ok?" Ron simply nodded.  
  
Both boys tightened their grips on their wands out of reflex. Ron could barely make out the quiet "1. . .2. . .3" that Harry muttered.  
  
"Mendus totalus, mendus totalus, mendus totalus. . ." the boys repeated it as a chance, moving their wands down the length of Draco's body. The blond boy shifted on the floor, his eyes opening slightly.  
  
When he caught sight of who was in the room with him, he started. He sat up straight, his back pressed firmly to the wall. "Weasley? Potter? Why the hell are you two in my room? HOW the hell did you two get into my room?"  
  
Harry looked at him quickly, then averted his stare back to the wall, "Hermione and floo powder." He said briskly. Draco's face softened at the mention of Hermione. Ron thought he saw Draco's eyes water for a moment, but a second later they were back to their emotionless state.  
  
Draco let out a shaky breath and pulled himself to his feet. He paced the length of his room for a moment before he turned back to Ron and Harry.  
  
"How did you know we were here? How'd you know where to find us?" Draco asked them.  
  
Ron kicked the floor with the tip of his shoe as he answered. "We overheard Pansy talking to Blaise. She's the reason why you're here. She wrote to your father and told him about. . .about you and Hermione," his voice hardened as he said the last bit.  
  
Draco's eyes hardened even more. "This is all Pansy's fault?"  
  
Harry nodded slightly and Draco spun around and threw his fist into his wardrobe. He cried out in pain and frustration, but quickly muttered a charm to heal his hand. "That stupid idiot. . ."  
  
Ron nodded. "That's what Blaise said, we thought she was about to kill Pansy."  
  
Draco scoffed. "I wouldn't doubt it, Blaise hates Pansy."  
  
Harry looked up at Draco suddenly. "Malfoy, where's Hermione? Is she ok?"  
  
Draco glanced up and his eyes flashed with anger. His eyes darted between the two and he sat on the floor with his back against his bed, deciding it would be best to tell them what happened.  
  
Ron and Harry watched Draco slide to the floor and stood dumbly, not sure what to do. Draco caught their apprehension. "Sit down you dolts." And they did.  
  
Draco drew in a shuddering breath before he began. "I-I guess I'll just start at the beginning. . .about a month ago, we, err, Hermione and I, began tolerating each other, because of a certain secret we shared. I think she told you, Weas-Ron. I'm not so sure if she told you, Harry. Basically, Hermione had been beaten by her father during the summer, and when I found that out, I felt a sort of string that tied us together. I'm assuming you two were here before I was brought in, so you don't need me to tell you that my father is bastard. So, I felt drawn to her, I guess. Pretty soon, she was all I could think about, and that's when I saw you kiss her, Ron, and I felt so strange around her after that. I also had this really strange dream, it was on the night you brought her into the infirmary because of her back. She was with me in the dream, and lightening was flashing all around us, and I leaned in to kiss her, only she wasn't there. . .she was being pulled by some kind of force and I couldn't get to her and I really didn't like that feeling. That's how I feel right now. Like I can't get to her, reach her." Draco shook his head, his blond hair falling into his eyes. He reached a hand up and brushed away the hair as he continued.  
  
"I fell in love with her. Which is really weird. We tolerated each other for about a week, yet I was suddenly in love with her. Then I kissed her. By the piano. And the rest is history." Tears began burning at the corner of his eyes, but he forced them away.  
  
"Then my father, the bastard, kidnapped us and brought us here. Hermione was put under the cruciatus curse and passed out from the pain. I was so relieved when she woke up, I wasn't sure if I were ever going to see her awake again. When she woke up, though. . .my father. . .he r-raped her. And I couldn't do anything about it."  
  
The two boys were staring at Draco in shock. Hermione had been raped? Draco loved Hermione? Draco had actually put his guard down to tell them what he was feeling? Their thoughts were interrupted by Draco once more. "When my father was through with her, he threw her back into the cell that she had been in before she had woken up. I tried to do everything I could to get to her, help her, but my father, had my body bound. I couldn't move. The spell wore off while they were bringing me up here. I'll kill my father for what he did. I'll kill him. . ." Draco was gripping the sleeves of his shirt so hard that his fingers were turning red.  
  
Draco allowed everything to sink in for Ron and Harry. Ron was the first to speak. His voice cracked a little, but his eyes were filled with determination. "We have to get to Hermione. Right now."  
  
Draco looked at him, "We're locked in here, Weasley! We can't get out."  
  
A mischievous glint appeared in Ron's eyes. "Oh on the contraire, my dear ferret, my brothers are the amazing Fred and George Weasley. I've picked up some of their tricks, and one of them, thankfully, was picking locks the muggle way."  
  
Draco watched as Ron took out two picks from under his cloak and began fiddling with the doorknob. All three heard a small click as the door unlocked. Draco's eyes widened in surprise. Ron smirked at him in return. Harry wrapped his invisibility cloak around his shoulders. It was going to be hard to walk with three fully-grown guys under it.  
  
"Come on you two," Harry said, growing impatient. And so they left. Draco was a little apprehensive about being under a cloak with his two worst enemies, but they WERE Hermione's best friends, so. . .  
  
Draco led them to the dungeons, a slow and arduous journey. They all had to huddle under the cloak to fit and Ron's elbow was digging into Harry's shoulder, and both kept bumping into Draco whenever he made an unexpected stop.  
  
They finally made it to the dungeons, unscathed. As they surveyed the room where all the barbaric events had happened earlier in the late hours of the night, Harry leaned forward and whispered to Draco, "Where is she?"  
  
Draco made a motion with his head towards a door in the corner of the room, hidden in darkness and solitude, the epitome of confinement. The boys could hear a soft weeping coming from that general direction and there was no doubt in their minds that it was her.  
  
Silently, the three moved towards her cell. They neared the door and Draco walked up to the small window at the top and whispered her name. Hermione's tear-laden voice appeared instantly.  
  
"Draco? Is that you?"  
  
"Yes," came his whispered response. "Potter and Weasley are here too."  
  
A soft scrambling sound came from inside the cell and the top of Hermione's head appeared at the window. Draco moved forward, and opening the cloak just a little bit, he bent over and kissed her forehead through the bars. Her weeping became louder as he did, and he pulled back quickly.  
  
"Hermione?" he whispered.  
  
Hermione only let out a struggled gasp. Draco was about to say something more when Lucius's booming voice entered the room.  
  
"Who are you talking to, mudblood? Praying that you will be spared? Oh dear child. Fear not. You will stay alive for as long as I see your presence worthwhile. In fact, I'm getting the strangest urge to make everything all better for you. Right now."  
  
Draco, Ron, and Harry stood mutely. Ron felt Draco tense up next to him and reach for his wand. Lucius pointed to the door, and Draco realized something. In a barely audible whisper, Draco told Ron and Harry what was about to happen. "He's going to open the door. Hard. I saw him do it earlier. We have to get out of the way. Back up."  
  
Lucius turned at the hushed whisper. "Who's there? I know you're there. I may not be able to see you, but you are there. Draco, boy, surely it isn't you. You know what the consequences would be if it were you." Lucius had an evil glint in his eyes, maniacal, in fact. His hands reached out in front of him, searching. He got so close that the three were forced to take a step back, and in the process, the cloak slipped, revealing Draco's feet.  
  
Lucius let out a haunting cackle as he reached forward and jerked the cloak off the three teenagers, all of which were prepared, wands ready, waiting to attack. A gasp came from behind the door. Hermione could hear everything that was happening, and was standing on her tiptoes to be able to see.  
  
Lucius looked towards the door and yelled out an incantation, and Hermione felt her body fly from the door and into the wall behind her. The impact knocked the breath out of her and she fell to the ground, drowning slowly in the dusty, thick air. The three boys stood in shock for a moment but snapped out of it and advanced on Lucius. Lucius's lips curled into a snide and cruel smile as he turned back to them.  
  
"You're precious mudblood is in there. Dying, she is. After I'm finished with you three, I will take her again, just once more, then I will give her the same fate as you. Oh how she will love it. Her fate will be much more painful than yours, of course. No, no, her death will be more dastardly than yours. I will make her scream, beg for mercy, oh yes, her death will be most fun to perform. But first, I shall deal with you three; a traitorous son, a sickening, wretched, red-haired excuse for a pureblood, and Potter, the boy who lived will finally die, like he should have fifteen years ago. Oh, yes, I will enjoy this very, very much."  
  
Lucius pointed his wand at them and yelled out. "Rictusempra!" The power that exerted from Lucius's wand hurled all three of them against the wall. The boys stood, staggering a bit from the impact. Draco pointed his wand at his father.  
  
"Ernegnia!" Draco shouted.  
  
The spell hit Lucius full on. "Ernegnia? What the hell is that? Did you just pull that out of your arse?" Ron asked confused.  
  
Draco gave him a disgusted look. "It temporarily blinds your opponent, dolt. It gives you a one-up on them." Lucius staggered slightly and wiped profusely at his eyes, but it was to no avail. He spun wildly, blindly, aiming his wand in front of him, shouting spells and curses, hoping to catch one of them. Suddenly his voice boomed out.  
  
"Ferum mobilus!"  
  
A sound like a gunshot exploded from his wand, and a solid lead object shot out at the speed of sound, ricocheting from wall to wall. Everyone ducked, unable to anticipate where it would go. It clang against everything it hit, zinging and zooming through the air, when suddenly, the sound was gone and no one knew where the object had gone. A wicked smile played across Lucius's lips when he heard the lead object stop making racket. A strangled groan came from behind Harry and Draco, and they whirled around just in time to see Ron fall to the floor.  
  
The tiny lead object gleamed in the candlelight of the dungeon, protruding from Ron's jugular. Blood dripped down his neck like raindrops on a rose during a steamy summer shower. Ron's forehead perspired and his face was red as he tried to speak. No sound came out. His eyes bulged as the pain coursed through him. Harry grabbed his best friend's hand, and a small tear fell down Ron's cheek as he gripped Harry's hand tightly. He gasped, and his sticky saliva formed little lines between his lips as he opened his mouth. He lifted the hand Harry was holding and motioned towards Hermione's cell, and closed his eyes in pain. More tears leaked from his eyes as he let out a struggled cry, he opened his eyes once more; Harry knelt over him, blurry and almost liquid-like through his tears, and he heard him let out a solemn cry as his eyes slid closed for the last time.  
  
Harry cradled Ron's head in his hands and wept, not caring that Draco Malfoy was watching, not caring about anything, except for thinking back on the memories they had shared, the times when they would sit around doing nothing as Hermione scolded them to get some work done, the times they played quidditch, the times they went to the Burrow. Those times were gone now. His best friend was dead, and his other best friend was imprisoned, soon to be dead.  
  
Harry felt blinded by grief, but he knew what he had to do. He had to save Hermione, he couldn't die. Harry and Ron had made a silent promise before Ron died. Hermione would be saved.  
  
Harry Potter, the boy who lived, stood and faced Lucius, alongside with Draco Malfoy, his archenemy, yet the only one he could trust. Oh how he wished fate hadn't reared its ugly head.  
  
~*~  
  
A/N: hi. Lol, wow. . .that was hard to write. Really really hard. I would like to give props to Selvagem for giving the brilliant spell: Ernegnia. That was off the top of her head. The "ferum mobilus" was all mine though. And it works too, so I'm proud. Lol, ferum is Latin for lead, and mobilus is Latin for moving. Put them together and you have moving lead, aren't I just dandy, lol, ok. . .so, eh review me now! Hehe. 


	15. the death

Disclaimer: *checks bank account* nope. . .still don't own Harry Potter. If JK Rowling would want to give me Harry Potter, then I would own it. But alas, I do not. Woe is me. Woe woe woe. Oh such a travesty. Anyhoo, nope, don't sue me. I don't own this stuff.  
  
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Thank you's  
  
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SkittlesforScarlett: she reviewed chapter 13, but I had posted chapter 14 before I got her review so, now I get to say thanks to her, lol. Yeah, I know what you meant in your review. Chapter 13 wasn't as good as I would have liked.  
  
MellonKidd: also reviewed 13. same thing goes for her. lol, thanks for the review.  
  
DemonWitch666: also reviewed 13. brought up a very good question. I'm thinking about what you said. I thought about that before, I wasn't sure what to do with that. Hehe.  
  
Zaccyzac: lmao. And faith did freak. Hehe.  
  
Amanda: haha. . .this was her review. I like it. It makes me giggle: YOU KILLED RON!!!!!!!! HOW COULD YOU KILL RON??????? *sobs* YOU EVIL EVIL EVIL EVIL person!!!!!!! Ahem Anyway other than some minor details (KILLING RON) it was an excellent chapter. Love'd it lots, other than you know the whole KILLING RON thing. Ron's my favorite character :( - hehe. I got so many reviews like that. It made my day. Mwahahahahaha. Yes I am an evil person. But, he had to die. I'm sorry.  
  
Selvagem: hehe. This chapter was a little further apart from the last one, isn't it? Lol. Thanks for the review.  
  
Lady Malfoy: lol, no, I can't make ron come back to life. Im sorry. But it's the same in the wizarding world. The dead cannot come back to life.  
  
BlueFrost: interesting review to say the least, lol. It made me laugh. Thanks for the thumbs up. hehe.  
  
Smiley: Thanks for the review.  
  
killing-dance: 1st review: hehe. Harry is finally doing something other than snogging, my oh my the pigs are flying. Hehe, jk. 2nd review: lol. Cheering squad.haha, funny stuff, lol. 3rd review: wow, thanks. Lol, I had no idea what I was doing when I wrote the kiss part. Lol. 4th review: lmao. Don't hack up lucius yet. 5th review: I know, I like blaise. I've always thought of blaise as a girl, and a very cool one at that, sort of like a female draco malfoy, only with black hair and piercing gold eyes, lol. 6th review: hahaha, yes yes, I know, ron is dead. I killed ron. Im sorry. Lol. Don't throw the rubber chicken at me!!! Here's your chapter.  
  
Titania: hehe. Yeah everyone is in need of a little compassion right now, aren't they? Yeah. . .the whole ginny/hermione finding out about ron thing is going to be hard to write.  
  
Sex & Diamonds: I totally agree. Thanks for your review.  
  
Slytherinlover: I know I know, ron's dead, he's dead, oh man oh man. Wait. . .how did I know he was dead? Oh yeah! I wrote it! Lol, oops. Hehe, im just kidding. All my reviews, or almost all had something like that in them. It's cool. Haha, thanks for the review.  
  
KeladeryM: I dunno, I just could. . .lol, thanks for the review.  
  
Meeka: thanks!  
  
Midnight-Primrose Riddle: midi has been wow'd to death. Lol. Wow wow wow wow. . .hehe. thanks midi.  
  
Ellie-Bob: uhhh, you're welcome, I guess?  
  
MellonKidd: yep. Ickle ronnikins is dead. Hehe. Thanks for the review.  
  
Nikki: ack, long review, lol. I know what you mean about some draco/hermione fics. The writers can make draco like a blond harry. . .quite annoying. Hehe. I wish I were hermione in the bathroom with draco, lol. Well, thanks for the review. I liked it a lot. *big grin*  
  
Setsujou: awww, thanks. You made me happy. Hehe.  
  
Kelly: yes the show must go on, and on it goes!  
  
horny_lady: lmao. . .excuse me while I pretend to care what you wrote. Haha. I could care less if you stopped reading because of that chapter. Good for you. Really, im amazed. And you are correct. Draco is only for hermione. See, that's why draco's so pissed and hermione's so depressed. *smiles at you* have a grand day!  
  
Caroline: hehe. Its ok to get carried away. Lol. Thanks for the review.  
  
Jamie Anderson: I killed him, I know I know. Im sorry. Hehe. I did like my present, thanks. Hehe. *pats draco on the head next to me*  
  
Hurdlingbaybe06: ahh, harry and draco aren't exactly friends. . .but this is sort of bonding experience for them. Lol. Anyhoo, thanks for the review.  
  
Nikki: lol, sorry about the wait. Been trying to figure out what to write.  
  
Nahima Tala: hehe thanks for the review. Yup. I killed him.  
  
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A/N: good lord you people spoil me. Not that im complaining or anything, lol. Hey, would you look at that. . .Jennifer has got 179 reviews. I know that she would just LOVE 200. . .hehe. (im Jennifer if you didn't know, lol) well, *grabs all of you together for a big group hug* thanks guys! I love you all! Muah! So sorry about the wait guys.  
  
Ok. . .hey look, chapter 15. whoa gee dang.  
  
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Chapter 15  
  
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Lucius stood before them, a mirthless glint of insanity in his eye, a gleeful, maniacal grin plastered on his face. Harry and Draco stood in front of him, ten feet away, gripping their wands so tightly that their fingers were white with strain.  
  
Lucius looked between the two teenagers and reared back his head and laughed, a cold cruel cackle that reverberated spookily throughout the dungeon. Draco and Harry stood their ground, tall and proud, with only one thing on their minds.  
  
Kill Lucius.  
  
~*~  
  
Draco looked at the man in front of him. The man who used to be a loving man, before he fully committed himself to the dark lord. The man Draco remembered as a child was nothing like this. He remembered the man he knew before the beating, and the murdering, and the raping. It was a long time ago. He scarcely remembered, but he could never forget.  
  
Lucius hadn't always been like this. In fact, he had been quite the opposite, always smiling at Draco's every accomplishment, proud of his every achievement. That was the man Draco loved, and every single time he looked at what his father had become, his very being burned with desire for him to return to what he was before.  
  
Lucius had started to change during Draco's second year at Hogwarts. All because of that blasted diary. When Draco found out what his father had done, slipping the diary into Ginny Weasley's schoolbooks. . .he wasn't quite sure what to think. Part of him was elated, thinking that if his father had done something like that, then it must be okay. He had still looked up to him at that point in his life, so he became merciless in teasing Hermione, telling her that she was next.  
  
He swallowed sharply as he thought about how much it must have hurt Hermione to hear him say something like that. That was the year he first called her a mudblood. He knew how wrong he was for doing that now, but then, he had thought it was okay because his father had done it. It had become such a habit for him, caught in a rift between loathing and loving his father.  
  
After he realized that his father was not the perfect man he had always thought, the beatings began. The first time Draco stood up to his father and told him he was wrong for being allied with Voldemort was the first time he ever felt the sharp and cold pain of his father's ring as his hand swept across his face. After that, everything Draco did resulted in his father's brutality.  
  
The beatings got worse as he grew older. When he was twelve, he had gotten away with nothing but a painful slap across the face, at thirteen, a swift kick in the ribs, fourteen, being strangled until the point of unconsciousness, at fifteen, sharp knives across his lower back and thighs, and at sixteen, the cruciatus curse. Now, nearing the age of seventeen, he was facing death. He couldn't believe that the man in front of him was the same one who would hug him tightly after he took his first steps, or after he first rode a broomstick without falling.  
  
He missed the man his father used to be, he wished and wished with all his might that his father would redeem himself, but alas, he was never rewarded. He had become bitter early on in the beatings, lashing out at people not because his father did it, but because of his own mental angst. He was in pain, ashamed of who he was, he was never good enough. He could never meet his father's expectations that had once been so easy to catch hold of. Every time he did something to hurt others was because he was hurting. If he was going to be miserable, so was everyone else.  
  
He detached himself from others, thinking if he didn't get close to anyone, then there was no way he could get hurt. It had been the perfect plan, or so he thought. He hadn't realized how lonely he would be, and so began the process of using girls to feed his own desires. Pansy had always been up to it, so she was mainly the only person he went to to extinguish his needs.  
  
It still wasn't enough. Pansy was an idiot-gorgeous, yes, but with an IQ only slightly higher than that of Crabbe or Goyle's. She provided no intellectual stimulation to him whatsoever. That's when he began talking to Blaise. They had always been friends, but they had never actually had a real conversation before. One day he sat down on a couch next to her in the Slytherin common room and they began talking about small things, nothing really important, but nevertheless, they had some contrasting views on some things.  
  
He remembered how easily she came back with witty comebacks when she disagreed with something he had said. It amazed him. He had never talked to anyone like this before, and it totally blew him away. Then Blaise did something that no one had ever been able to do. She made him laugh. He had gotten so passionate about one of his arguments that he was red in the face when she began making faces at him, her eyes going wide, eyebrows up in the air, a mocking smirk on her face. It took him a second to realize she was mimicking him, and then he laughed. He laughed so hard tears threatened to fall from the corners of his eyes.  
  
Ever since then Blaise had never failed in making him laugh when he needed it the most. She had become his best friend, his only friend. . . something he had never had before. They had dated briefly, but they soon realized that they were much better suited as friends, and nothing more. Their bond was incredibly strong, and he knew he could tell her anything, and she him. They had such an amazing bond, one that no one could quite understand. They knew each other inside and out. She was the reason he never went insane.  
  
Then, by some strange twist of fate, Hermione was brought to him and as much as he had hated it in the beginning, a bond had been created between them as well. Hermione hadn't realized it, of course, but he had. It scared him to think of it, but after a long discussion with Blaise, he realized Hermione just might be what he needed in order to be truly happy again. He decided to go for it.  
  
Now, looking at the man in front of him as he continued to laugh, he found himself struggling once again in that rift of loathing and hating the man. He felt his hand begin to tremble as his emotions conflicted. On one hand, he was his father, on the other, he was an evil bastard who should be put to death. Then again. . .he was his father.  
  
Kill him, or not kill him, kill him or not, kill him or. . . "Aghhhhhhhhhh!" he let out a scream of frustration, and closing his eyes, he pointed his wand towards the maniacal Lucius and screamed out hoarsely the first curse that came to mind.  
  
"Crucio!"  
  
Draco gasped as he heard the words escape his mouth, and Harry looked at him in shock. Draco was practically hyperventilating by now, his emotions so widely conflicting as he watched his father writhe on the ground, eyes closed tight in pain, suffering as horrendously as possible. Harry stood in dumb shock as he watched Draco, and minutes later he came to his senses, shaking Draco, causing him to break the concentration. Tears were spilling from his eyes in large dollops, his face red, contorted in pain and fury. He looked to Harry and collapsed to the ground, the tears coming uncontrollably. His shoulders shook and he gave out another scream of frustration as he kicked the wall in fury.  
  
Lucius lay on the ground, still, trying to catch his breath and waiting for the pain to subside. Harry bent down next to Draco and awkwardly placed a hand on the other boy's shoulder in a lousy attempt to soothe him. Draco shied away from Harry's touch and glanced up at him venomously. Harry brought his hand back sharply.  
  
"Just. . .Do. Not. Touch. Me. Right. Now." He said to Harry slowly. His whole body shook with nerves. He had never been so worked up before. He walked over to a darkened corner of the room and stooped down. Harry watched him curiously as he pulled at the floor. Finally, a brick came up with his hands. He watched as Draco reached in slowly and pulled out a sharp gleaming dagger.  
  
Draco replaced the brick and stood, facing Harry. His eyes went wide. "Potter, look out!" Harry turned at the same time Lucius ran towards him, and he felt two strong hands around his neck, squeezing tightly. Harry was beginning to turn purple.  
  
Draco gripped the dagger in his hands and muttered a silent prayer as he raised his hand and released the sharp object. It soared through the air in a quick, straight line, resting solidly seconds later in the side of Lucius's neck.  
  
Lucius instantly dropped Harry, who fell to the floor heavily, gasping for breath. Lucius turned unsteadily and looked to Draco, taking two small staggering steps towards his son, his hand stretched out, as if he were trying to hold on to something that wasn't there.  
  
Crimson tidal waves collided heavily with the dingy floor, and as Lucius's knees gave out and he fell, Draco watched on in conflicted grief, half happy of what he had done, and half in horror of what he had done.  
  
He lost his balance and stumbled a bit, almost as if someone had put the jelly-legs jinx on him. He slowly brought his hands to his head and tugged at his hair in agony. He watched as his father crawled slowly on the floor towards him. Soon, he was crouched at Draco's feet, and he reached up clinging tightly to his shirt. Draco felt the fabric tug around him as his father grabbed at the cloth. By now his emotions were running all together, and tears streamed down his dirty pale face. Lucius looked up at him slowly and Draco stood there, watching silently. His father raised a shaky finger to his face, and smirked venomously. The blood was gushing down the man's chest, running together with his clothing. He yanked Draco towards him so that Draco fell to his knees beside him.  
  
Lucius let out a ragged breath as he clawed out at Draco, scratching his arms, leaving small lines of pink flesh and red blood in their wake. Then, Lucius's eyes rolled back suddenly in his head and he fell to the floor, the blood pooling around him.  
  
Draco stood quickly and glared at Harry, who had been watching on in silent disposition. Harry looked away and walked towards Hermione's cell, where she could be heard faintly breathing.  
  
"Malfoy. . .how do I get this thing to open?" he asked quietly.  
  
Draco stood over his father, wiping the sweat off his brow, the salt intermingling with that of his tears and grime that had settled on his face. He hadn't seemed to have heard Harry's question.  
  
"Malfoy? Draco?"  
  
Draco turned towards Harry and quickly fell to his knees, vomiting horrendously on the dungeon floor.  
  
~*~  
  
Ginny stood outside of the tapestries that hid the entrance to the slytherin common room. She slid her hand under the tapestries and tapped solidly on the stone wall behind it. A scuffling sound came from inside and the bricks turned into a door, which slowly opened.  
  
Blaise Zabini stuck her head out from behind the door and looked perplexed when she saw who it was.  
  
"Are you lost?" she asked the red head.  
  
Ginny shook her head. "Blaise. . .can I talk to you?"  
  
Blaise looked at her curiously and then turned back around and walked back into her common room. Ginny stood still, a little shocked that Blaise just left like that. She was about to turn around when the door swung open again and Blaise stepped out, a cloak wrapped around her figure.  
  
"What is it?" she inquired.  
  
Ginny motioned for Blaise to follow her, and they made their way to the Gryffindor tower. The fat lady was a bit surprised to see a slytherin accompanying the youngest Weasley, but nevertheless, she allowed them in.  
  
Blaise stood still in the Gryffindor common room, her arms wrapped around her tightly, wondering what Ginny Weasley could possibly want with her.  
  
"I need your help," Ginny muttered quietly.  
  
~*~  
  
A/N: hey lookie there. Lucius is dead. Ron's still dead though. And Ginny doesn't know. . .and neither does Hermione. Oh how fun this next chapter will be, eh? Hehe. Well, you took the time to read the chapter, whats a few more seconds to review? Bye bye! Hope you enjoyed it. 


	16. the sorrow

Disclaimer: nope. Don't own this stuff.  
  
~*~  
  
Thank you's  
  
~*~  
  
Selvagem: lol, when I first started this story I told myself nothing too dark or gruesome. . .haha, look where that got me. This fic is nothing but dark and gruesome! Lol, thanks for the review, as usual!  
  
Sex & Diamonds: me too!  
  
Snapegirl: me? Finish off draco? Why I would never, lol. I love him too much.  
  
ellie-bob: ok. Quit asking me that question. Yes I am going to write more, see, this right here, it's more. Thank you for reviewing. Sorta.  
  
Nikki: lol, yeah. Lucius died a nasty painful death. . .but eh, he was still evil even as he died. Poor draco. Never getting his wish. I'll be sure to comfort him.  
  
Jamie Anderson: hehe, I don't mind if draco gets a little naughty, hehehe. *pats draco on the head next to me again.*  
  
Princess642: I leave you with cliffie cuz im evil, mwahahahahahahahaha. Eh, actually it just worked out that way, lol. Thanks for the review, and oh yeah, I had to kill Ron, he had to die! Lol.  
  
tigerbrat88: you made me smile and get all happy! I loved your review, it was so sweet, lol. Thank you so much.  
  
0: 1st review: hehe thanks. There will be about two more chapters, I believe. 2nd review: actually. . .I got the rictusempra spell correct. Sorta. I had to look it up to make sure. Rictusempra is actually the dueling knockback charm. Rictusempra allows the skilled wizard duelist to knock back an opponent leaving him or her vulnerable to hits. That comes directly from the Harry Potter 2 Chamber of Secrets CD-ROM instruction manual. That's where I got that from. But you were correct, now that I've looked at the Chamber of Secrets book. On page 192 of the soft back copy, it does state it is the tickling charm. So, I guess we're both sort of right, even though you were more so. So. . .lol, sorry about that! Thanks for pointing it out! (  
  
Young Golden Unicorn: aww thanks! Lol, im writing im writing.  
  
Albinofrog88: lol, yup finally, the bastard is dead.  
  
Hurdlingbaybe06: lol, yeah well it was supposed to be gros, lol. And you'll find out what's going on with ginny and blaise soon enough.  
  
Willowfairy: he's really dead. Ron will not be coming back to life. Sorry guys, he had to die.  
  
Elendea: aww thank you. I'm really glad you like it. Lol, yup, everyone hates lucius. It's quite funny.  
  
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A/N: rictusempra is, in fact only a mere tickling charm according to the book. I didn't look that up really, I looked in the instruction manual of the CD ROM, where that SHOULD have been correct. Damn WB making mistakes. So, again, sorry about that. Let's pretend I said. . .oh, flipendo or something. Lol, ok, well on to chapter 16.  
  
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Chapter 16  
  
~*~  
  
Blaise looked at Ginny with a befuddled expression on her face. "You need me to help you?" she asked, making sure to elucidate the pronouns.  
  
Ginny nodded slowly. She watched as Blaise gestured for her to continue. "Well, erm, Harry and Ron went after Hermione and Draco."  
  
The apathetic look on Blaise's face changed instantly. Her eyes went wide and a fire lit inside them. "They what??!"  
  
Ginny was about to repeat to her what she just said when Blaise shook her head and held up her hand. "I did hear you correctly, didn't I? Your brother and Potter went after Draco and Granger?"  
  
Ginny nodded again.  
  
Blaise began pacing around the room speaking profusely to no one in particular. "They went after them? Who in their right mind would go after them? Lucius would kill them. He will kill them. He probably has killed them. Oh gods, why are Gryffindors such dolts sometimes?"  
  
Ginny looked slightly taken aback. Blaise seemed to notice the offence she committed and looked to Ginny apologetically. "Sorry. Wait, why aren't you with them? I thought you would follow your little boyfriend everywhere."  
  
Ginny shrugged. "They wouldn't let me. I tried, but they told me it was too dangerous. So I just kind of went to think for awhile, then I remembered that you and Draco were good friends, so. . ." Blaise interrupted Ginny.  
  
"Wait, how did you know about Draco and I? Not even everyone in Slytherin knows about us. How would you know?"  
  
Ginny gave an embarrassed smile as she answered her. "Well, we. . .Harry, Ron, and I, sort of overheard a conversation between you and Pansy."  
  
Blaise snorted at Pansy's name. "I cannot believe she did Draco in like that. She is such an idiot. I swear, if I didn't know that her mother loves her, I would kill her." She glanced over to Ginny and smirked slightly. "So. . .what do you need my help with?"  
  
Ginny took a breath. "I need you to go with me to the Malfoy Manor."  
  
Blaise looked at Ginny as if she were crass. "Are you serious?" Ginny nodded. Blaise looked down at her hands for a moment, then looked back up at Ginny. "I'm sorry. I can't help you."  
  
Ginny's normally pale complexion turned bright red, and it wasn't from embarrassment. "Why not?" she asked crossing her arms.  
  
Blaise looked slightly shocked at Ginny's response, but nevertheless answered her. "Because. It's too dangerous."  
  
Ginny couldn't believe what she was hearing. "Blaise, my brother, my boyfriend, and my best friend are all in that house, along with your best friend! Now, I don't care if you're too scared of Lucius Malfoy, because you're coming with me regardless!"  
  
Blaise backed away from Ginny. Now she knew just what they meant by Gryffindor courage. It was something that could make a normally quiet and collected person a raging beast, and she definitely did not want to argue with a beast at that moment.  
  
"Fine, but you must do as I say. You have no idea what we may find when we get there. Understand?" Blaise demanded.  
  
Ginny smiled and saluted Blaise. "Yes ma'am."  
  
Blaise smiled in spite of herself. She could get used to this kid. If they lived long enough, that is.  
  
~*~  
  
The two stood in front of the fireplace in the Slytherin common room twenty minutes later. They had to get some things from Blaise's dorm before they headed off.  
  
"You ready?" Blaise asked quietly. Ginny nodded quickly. "Alright then," came Blaise's short response.  
  
Stepping into the fireplace Blaise called out, "Malfoy Manor!" and was soon out of sight. Ginny followed seconds later. Ginny found Blaise brushing off her clothes as she stepped out of the fireplace.  
  
She looked around at the dark blue and silver room. "Whose room are we in?" Ginny asked.  
  
Blaise surveyed the room quickly. "Draco's."  
  
Ginny nodded her head in acknowledgement to Blaise's response and wandered to the door. She had almost turned the handle when Blaise pulled her hand back. "Wait. There could be someone out there." She whispered.  
  
Ginny watched as Blaise pulled something from her robes that looked something like a compact mirror and held it up to the door. Nothing happened at first, but then Ginny noticed a blurry hole appearing from under the mirror. Blaise peered into it and turned her head slightly as if she were trying to look further down the hall.  
  
"No one's there. Come on." Blaise said as she tugged Ginny out of the room by her robes.  
  
~*~  
  
Harry watched the grotesque action of regurgitation that Draco had unfortunately been reduced to. Draco was still on his knees, covered in the blood of his father and himself. He was pale, even more so than usual, and tiny droplets of sweat beaded through his hair and down his face, dripping silently in a dollop on the floor. He fell to the wall, his back connecting with it gently and he wiped away at his forehead with the sleeve of his robes. Tears were still making their streams down his face, but he paid them no heed.  
  
Harry left from beside the door to the cell Hermione was cooped up in reluctantly and sat rather uneasily next to Draco at the wall. He had no idea what to say to him. What do you say to someone after such an event? Finally, he let out a breath.  
  
"Thank you."  
  
Draco looked a little shocked. "For what?"  
  
Harry shrugged. "Everything. . .I guess. You saved my life. You saved Hermione's life. You were there for her. You helped her."  
  
Draco looked up venomously. "Well it wasn't like you were doing anything for her. For the past two months all you've been able to do is snog with Weaslette. You didn't even realize anything was wrong, Potter. Do you know how horrible she felt about that? And even worse, the only help she was getting was coming from me. Her biggest enemy. It should have come from her best friend, Potter, not me."  
  
Harry nodded. "I know. But she loves you now."  
  
Draco scoffed. "Yeah and look where that has gotten her. Shut up in a cell, being raped and beaten. She doesn't deserve that. No one deserves that. And the bastard actually made me watch him do it." He said gritting his teeth together and standing.  
  
Harry stood up after him and followed him to Hermione's cell. A faint breathing came from the other side. He approached it slowly and mumbled an inaudible spell to unlock the door. There was a loud click and the door swung open brashly, giving Draco only a second to get out of the way.  
  
Hermione lay in a crumpled heap, dirty, naked, and still unconscious. Draco rubbed his eyes. "I mean look at her, Potter. Look what happened to her because she loved me. This is what happens. That's why I don't let people close, Potter. That's why I am the way I am. But then she came. And I threw away everything for her, and all she gets is this. The first girl I fall in love with. . .the only girl I ever will fall in love with. . .gets this treatment. I can't take it." Draco rubbed at his eyes a bit more, pushing in the unshed tears.  
  
Harry watched dolefully as Draco took off his cloak and covered her body with it. He couldn't believe that Draco Malfoy had just opened up to him, his nemesis. He found that he respected the guy now. In a matter of twenty-four hours, he had gone from hating the guy to admiring him. "Draco. . .Hermione deserves you. You deserve her. Trust me."  
  
Draco gave him a tiny smile and looked over to his father loathingly. Harry noticed the glance.  
  
"How did you learn how to do that?" he asked.  
  
Draco looked slightly confused. "Do what?"  
  
Harry continued. "How did you learn how to throw a knife like that. I mean, you unleashed that perfectly. That couldn't have been luck. It was too perfect."  
  
Draco shrugged a little. "My cousin taught me a few years ago. He tried to put me in a knife-throwing competition because I got so good. I declined though. My father used to bring me down here a couple of years ago and he would cut me with that dagger on my lower back and my legs. I used his own torture devices to kill him. . ."  
  
Harry looked towards Ron and felt the area behind his eyes begin to sting. 'It shouldn't have been Ron to die,' he thought to himself. 'He was there for Hermione. She needs him more than she needs me.' He felt the tears fall from his eyes for a second time that night. Draco didn't say a word. He only bent down to Hermione and caressed her face, easing her to wake up.  
  
"Hermione. . .baby, wake up." He gently placed her hair behind her ear, stroking the smooth flesh on her face. "Wake up Hermione. It's over." Hermione shifted a little and her eyes slowly opened.  
  
Everything seemed blurry at first, out of focus. As her vision came back steadily, she noticed blond hair and pale skin, a strong body, hovering over her. She sat up briskly, holding the cloak tightly to her and shrieked, sliding back to the wall in fear. "Get away from me!" she screamed, kicking at Draco.  
  
"Hermione! It's me, it's Draco. Calm down, Hermione, it's only me." He reached in to pull her into a hug, but she recoiled from his touch. Tears flew to her eyes and she backed away even further. She obviously thought that Draco was Lucius.  
  
Harry seemed to notice what was happening and walked into the cell with Draco. He kneeled down next to Hermione and scooped her into his arms. "Come on, Hermione. We need to get you to the infirmary." She nodded slightly, wrapping her arms around Harry's neck, clinging tightly.  
  
"Harry. . ." came her soft whisper. "Where's Ron at?"  
  
Harry swallowed hard and glanced at Hermione's face. "Where is he?" she repeated.  
  
"I would like to know that as well." Everyone looked up in shock at the extra voice coming from the bottom of the stairs. "Ginny. . ." Harry confirmed, then looked towards Blaise, who stood with her. "Blaise."  
  
"Harry? Where is he? Where's Ron at?" Ginny's voice trembled as she questioned him. Hermione looked into Harry's eyes, pleading with her own for the truth.  
  
"Right here." Draco told everyone as he trudged around the corner carrying the limp form of Ron over his back. Ginny let out a small shriek as she saw her lifeless brother. Hermione gasped and buried her head in Harry's shoulder. Blaise lifted a hand to her mouth.  
  
Ginny's eyes welled with tears as she ran over to where Draco had laid Ron down on his back. "Ron! Ronald Weasley, no. no you can't be dead. You can't do this to me, Ron! You can't leave me here! Ron. . ." she tugged at his shirt, shaking him in vain, hoping he was only asleep, ignoring the blood that had dried around his neck.  
  
Draco mumbled from over by Blaise. "He isn't going to wake up Weasley." He said it gently, trying to tell her the truth simply. She looked at him, and the tears flowed from her eyes, tracing down her face in large streams, branching off from each other like tributaries and junctions, spilling from her face and soaking the material of Ron's shirt as she clutched onto him desperately, unwilling to let go.  
  
Harry felt Hermione's entire body shake as she cried silently to herself, and he kissed the top of her head, and stroked her hair, as more tears fell from his own eyes, dropping heavily into Hermione's hair. He heard Hermione begin to speak.  
  
"No. . .no. . .no. . .no. . ." she repeated it over and over, the one word, her entire body quaking with silent tears, and Draco and Blaise watched dejectedly from by the stairs, they were sitting and Blaise had her arms wrapped around Draco's shoulders as his body shook uncontrollably, every single emotion he had crashing together. He didn't cry though. He had cried too much.  
  
Ginny let out a small whimper into the air, and Hermione had stopped crying, and was now instead looking off into oblivion, her eyes shrouded with an unknown barrier. Harry pulled her around a corner and sat her down, draping the cloak over her, and buttoning it up, then pulled her back into his arms again.  
  
She clung to his neck tighter this time, and he felt her nails gripping into his back, and he wondered for a moment if she was reliving every event of the night she had, or if she was reliving every moment she and Ron had shared. And as she clenched onto him tighter, pulling at his robes, he knew that she was thinking of both.  
  
He brought his mouth to her ear and whispered in it softly. "It's okay, Hermione. It will be okay. I promise." The only response he got from her was a brisk shake of her head, a look of fear in her eyes, and two arms tightening around his neck.  
  
~*~  
  
A/N: hi. Hope you like that chap. Only one more to go. Ack, I can't believe I'm almost done with my first fic. I hope you review. Make me happy and cheesy and maybe you'll get the last chapter faster. I love those reviews! Lol, keep them coming and I will love you forever. Wow. . .I'm almost done. That's so scary! I actually committed myself to something. Lol, whew. Ok, well, review please!  
  
REVIEW! 


	17. the end

Disclaimer: no I don't own it at all. I swear.  
  
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Thank you's (shit load of em.jeez people you spoil the hell out of me)  
  
~*~  
  
MellonKidd: dude! Lol, hopefully it turns out okay.  
  
Selvagem: hehehe, Shannon you're a kick in the glass, I tell you. Damn keyboard. . .  
  
not sure yet: hehe yay for the big bang theory! No knifes in the vicinity of woodland creatures and innocent bystanders for you, young lady!  
  
Kelly: hmmm well I guess you found out by now, hehehe.  
  
Amora-Ryuko: hehe, she stopped reviewing after chapter 12. I have a feeling the whole rape thing scared her away, lol. Well, if you read this, thanks for all the good reviews!  
  
Snapegirl: hehe calm down you.  
  
Sex & Diamonds: there you go making me laugh with your reviews again. Lol. Yes I will be writing another d/hr fic after this one, but it's going to be a bit more cheerful with this one with small amounts of angst, and alas no naughty. But maybe in the fic after that one. . .  
  
The Lost Weasley: yup. Blaise kicks ass. Hehehe.  
  
J.Fo: hehehe. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, he had to die, lol. Poor ickle Ronnikins  
  
Amanda: why thank you dahling best friend of mine.  
  
MellonKidd: have I made you restless enough?  
  
Freak like me: aww thank you! But. . .how do you know what it's like to kill someone, eh? Hehe, jk.  
  
Hurdlingbaybe06: well, actually I could make it more depressing. . .I think I might do that. *evil grin*  
  
Princess Roly: aww thank you thank you thank you. Your review was so sweet! Lol, I loved I loved it I loved it!  
  
ellie-bob: in all honesty I thought you were someone I used to know that really annoyed me. It's just that every time I get a review from you, you have no others words besides thank you. If you do review me again, seeing as how I've pissed you off, and frankly I don't blame you for being pissed, please write something more than "thank you, are you going to write anymore?" It's better for a writer if they know what to change, or what is good or isn't good. Your reviews don't tell me much on what can be changed and provide no help whatsoever. Sorry if I'm pissing you off even more. It's just the truth.  
  
Jamie Anderson: aww there are plenty of good fics out there. You just gotta search for them. Lol. I'll miss this fic too. It's been fun writing it.  
  
Meg: well, basically I could make that happen to hermione because I'm the one writing the story. See, I get authority over what gets written in this thing. Good day.  
  
Little Red Raven: yes yes, rav, I did kill Ron. I'm a big meanie. So sorry. Hehe. Chipper up you.  
  
LunaCat007: lol, sorry this chap took so long to get out. Writer's block. . .sorta.  
  
Sweet roses: thank you so much. I feel all good inside now. Hehe.  
  
Willowfairy: *hums silently to herself* we'll see. . .  
  
Young Golden Unicorn: I'm writing I'm writing! Lol. Thank you for reviewing.  
  
Kristin Malfoy: why thank you, and indeed I am.  
  
Princess642: your review made me laugh. Lol. Lot's of words you have for lucius there.  
  
I-LOVE-DRACO: I love draco too. . .anyhoo, mercy beaucoup for the review.  
  
Nahima Tala: hehe. Thank you dahling.  
  
Caroline: hehe, thank you for your lovely review. Yeah, that's why I'm only writing one fic at a time, that way I can keep my concentration on it and get committed to it. Yay.  
  
COLDPLAYSOCEAN: aww thank you so much! That was a beautiful and humorous review. I loved it a lot. And I love coldplay so that makes it even better! Lol, thank you so much.  
  
Little Red Raven: EVERYONE GO AND REVIEW RAV'S STORIES! THEY ARE GOOD, EVEN THOUGH THEY ARE ALL DRACO AND GINNY..DAMN YOU RAV. Anyhoo, thank you for the second review. Mwahahahahahaha.  
  
Sweet roses: I'll have to go listen to those two songs, thanks for bringing them up. lol, I didn't know that my fic matches a couple songs. Haha that's cool. I'll check em out, I promise. Hehe, yeah you accidentally sent that twice. eets okies.  
  
Alison50: hehe, I'm writing I'm writing, I promise.  
  
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A/N: that was a hella lot of reviews. Just a little over two pages. Jeez, lol, I love you people. Sorry to get this out so late, I had some small writer's block thing. Have fun reading my very last chapter to this fic. . .its so sad saying goodbye! I love you I love you I love you!  
  
~*~  
  
Chapter 17  
  
~*~  
  
Hermione woke up in the hospital wing that night at the sound of thunder shaking the whole of Hogwarts. The bed she lay in rattled slightly at the rolling vibrations and she stared out the window at the pitch-black sky, the rain pelting the window. She shuddered, drawing in a deep breath, and wrapped the blankets around her tightly.  
  
Memories of the previous events racked her mind mercilessly. She saw Lucius hovering above her, fumbling with his robes and she noticed Draco in the corner, bound to where he sat. She shut her eyes tightly, willing the memory to go away. She remembered the excruciating pain that came with it all and she tried to fight back tears as she relived every moment. Liquid trails of salt seeped out from under her eyelids and rolled down her cheeks, dripping silently onto the fabric of the white linen sheets she lay on.  
  
'Go away!' her mind screamed. Her hands went to her forehead and she felt her nails digging into the flesh sharply. 'Go. AWAY!' her thoughts shouted through her mind, willing it to listen. And for once, it obeyed.  
  
It instead directed itself wholly on Ron.  
  
Hermione flipped onto her side on the bed and breathed heavily into the pillow, each breath shuddering more than the last. Her small pale hands tugged at the pillowcase, gripping it so hard that her fingers began to turn purple. 'Oh Ron. . .no. no, don't go. No, Ron. Come back to me!' she pleaded to the image of Ron in her head. Ron turned to her and all she saw was the blood. It flowed down his neck in crimson tides, permeating his shirt in the warm red liquid. Hermione let out a scream at the sight of him, unbeknownst to her that she had even opened her mouth in the first place.  
  
Madame Pomfrey ran into the room from her office, panting heavily. "Miss Granger, you've awoken." She managed to say between breaths. Hermione nodded incoherently and the old nurse bustled over to her bed. She picked up a vile on the night table beside the bed and handed it to Hermione. "Drink this, my dear. It will help you sleep, fill your dreams with happy thoughts."  
  
Hermione looked at her curiously. "Why not just give me the dreamless sleeping potion?"  
  
Madame Pomfrey gave her a sympathetic look. "You've been through a great ordeal, Miss Granger. The sleeping draught only causes the pain you feel to go away for a bit, both the emotional and the physical. What this potion does is give you amazing dreams that are nestled deep in your heart. You will wake up happier, and a little bit more ready to face reality. I assure you, my dear. Now drink up."  
  
Hermione complied and no sooner than she had handed the nurse back the vile, her head hit the pillow gently, her eyelids closing on impact.  
  
~*~ (dream)~*~  
  
Hermione stood in the ocean, the wind billowing through her hair, causing each strand to lick the sky, the sun shining down on her head giving her a warm glow all over. She looked down and saw that she was dressed in a white toga, which drifted around her as the waves encircled her waist. She brought her hand to the surface of the water and allowed her fingers to skim over the beauteous fluid.  
  
The liquid rippled under her touch undulating gently as the waves closed in on her. She slipped under the water with ease, and came back up, her head leaning back gracefully, her hair falling to her back immediately under the weight of the water. She stood again, bringing her hands to her hair, wringing out the water, droplets cascading down her face and back. When she pulled her hands away, her hair fell in moist ringlets over her shoulders.  
  
She looked to the shore, and for the first time, she noticed that she wasn't alone. Bringing her hand up to shadow her eyes, she squinted and saw a slight glimmer of messy red hair. The figure waved and beckoned her to come to him. She obliged and made her way through the salty ensconce of the ocean.  
  
Moments later she felt her foot hit the warm sand just beyond the surf, and the feeling that generated from the heat tingled her entire body, causing her to shudder at the sudden wave of warmth. She was closer now and she smiled amusedly at the figure's light cascade of freckles across his nose. He walked closer until he was standing directly in front of her.  
  
She smiled as she looked up at his beautiful blue orbs, the ones that were speckled with light traces of brown and gold. He brought his hand to her cheek and she sank into his touch.  
  
"Just like Aphrodite. . ." he murmured.  
  
She closed her eyes, warmth flowing throughout her, completely lost in Ron's touch. He brought his hand to her hair and toyed with it playfully, wrapping the ringlets around his finger, tugging gently. She let out a small burst of air and she opened her eyes slowly, glancing up towards his.  
  
"Don't leave me, Ron. Come back to me." She pleaded softly.  
  
Ron smiled at her and cupped her face in his hands. She brought her hands up to his, interlacing their fingers. "I will never leave you, Hermione. I will always be right here," he told her as he brought their hands to section themselves over his heart. "I promise."  
  
"I need you so much, Ron." Hermione said, her breath quickening.  
  
"I know, Hermione, I know. I will always be here for you. Maybe not in body, but I will always be here with you in spirit. Never forget that, Hermione. Never."  
  
A small tear rolled down her cheek, and Ron lifted his finger and brushed it away, his arms encircling her body within milliseconds. She wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her head in his shoulder. They stood like that for a long while, until finally he lifted his head and kissed her forehead. "I love you, Hermione Granger. Goodbye."  
  
Hermione glanced up, her eyes brimming with tears. "Don't go. . .please. Stay with me."  
  
Ron shook his head. "I can't stay with you like you want me to. I will always be with you, I will always be that annoying pest in your head, in your heart. I will never leave you, Hermione, not spiritually at least. I do have to leave physically though."  
  
He turned to leave, but paused for a second and faced her again. "Oh, and Draco wants to see you," he told her with a sly grin.  
  
Hermione pulled in her breath and held it for a moment. Ron apparently seemed to notice and he looked at her seriously. "Hermione, he isn't his father. You wouldn't be alive if he were. It will be okay, Hermione, I promise."  
  
And with that, Ron turned abruptly and made his way down the beach, disappearing suddenly in the distance. Hermione stood for a moment, unsure of what to do.  
  
Suddenly the day turned to night, and the warmth turned to biting wind and rain. Lightening struck the surface of the water in a multitude of places under the storm's wrath. Hermione lifted her head to the dark sky, allowing the rain to fall heavily against her face, soothing her in a way nothing else could.  
  
Her hair began twisting wildly in the harsh wind, flicking the air swiftly. She brought her face back down and opened her eyes- finding herself staring into the gray gaze of Draco Malfoy. She felt a grin tug at her lips as she looked at him. He walked to her and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into him. She watched his eyes every single second of the moment and smiled softly to him. He leaned in, his lips only inches away from hers when a sudden crack of thunder jolted them away from each other.  
  
Hermione felt her body being tugged away from Draco. She reached out and grabbed fervently for his hand. They held on for an instant, but then she felt her body ripped away from his and she saw him getting further and further away from her (A/N: end dream), and suddenly, with a small pop, she found herself back in the hospital wing, the storm still raging uncontrollably around the castle.  
  
She sat up, her head mopped with sweat. She looked over to her bedside and jumped, startled by the fact that Draco was sitting in a chair next to her bed, his head on the soft mattress by her waist.  
  
A small smile played at her lips and she brought her hand to his hair, and ran her fingers through it gently. He started at the touch and looked up at her sleepily. "Hey. . ."  
  
Hermione put her finger to his lips and rested her head in her pillow again. He brought his hand to hers and entwined his fingers with hers, kissing each one of them softly as she drifted off into sleep again.  
  
~*~  
  
The morning of Ron's funeral was a solemn one. Even though the beautiful Scottish sky was clear and as blue as sapphires, the mood was a melancholy one, and even though Hermione had learned to let go of her best friend, she still felt a twinge of heartache.  
  
The whole of Hogwarts attended the funeral, with an exception of one Slytherin who found herself stuck in St. Mungo's for the incurably insane, after receiving news that a certain plan to kill a certain person in order to gain another certain person's fancy had failed miraculously. Alas, Pansy Parkinson would be with them no more.  
  
The Weasleys and Harry stood closest to Ron's coffin, each of them in their own stages of grief.  
  
Molly had her hand to her heart, leaning on Arthur for the ability to stand, tears running down her face in large dollops, her shoulders shaking vehemently.  
  
Arthur stood next his wife, barely able to hold her up, composing himself as best as possible as the words of condolences were read. A small tear rolled down his cheek and he brushed it away quickly before anyone could see.  
  
Bill and Charlie stood on the other side of their mother, each with their hands folded in front of them at their waists, heads bowed in silent mourning.  
  
Percy stood a little further away from his family, leaning solemnly on a post, occasionally wiping away a tear as he pushed the rims of his glasses back up his nose.  
  
Fred and George stood by their father, each of them allowing silent tears of grief spill down their cheeks.  
  
Ginny stood in between Harry and George, breathing heavily, eyes brimmed with unshed tears.  
  
Harry had his arm around Ginny, her head resting on his shoulder. He squeezed her shoulder softly as he looked towards the casket that held his best friend. A small gasp escaped his lips and suddenly the tears came for both him and Ginny.  
  
Hermione watched it all from the other side of Harry, her own mind filled with mourning thoughts of her dead best friend. She didn't allow herself to cry though.  
  
She gave a solemn glance to Draco, the tears threatening to escape. She blinked them back and rested her eyes once more on the casket. Sniffling students, teachers, and other funeral guests stood all around the Weasley's, offering words of comfort.  
  
Finally, the burial took place, and they all walked from the cemetery quietly. Not too many felt something other than solemnity.  
  
After the funeral, everyone went there own way, Slytherins went with Slytherins, Gryffindors with Gryffindors, everyone went with there own kind. Hermione, Harry, and Ginny made there way silently back to the Gryffindor Common Room, where Hermione went straight to her prefect's corridor.  
  
~*~  
  
Hermione lay in the bed of her prefect's room in Gryffindor tower, staring towards the ceiling. It was night and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't bring herself to sleep.  
  
After a long while, she gave up on trying to sleep and crawled out of bed, wrapping her school robes around her pajamas. She grabbed her wand and left the room, and then left the tower, making her way for another tower.  
  
The journey up the flight of stairs to the astronomy tower was a long one, but she was young, she could handle it. When she reached the door to the tower she pushed on it gently, willing it not to squeak too much. She was incredibly grateful when it obliged.  
  
She walked to the balcony and looked out to the lake, the gentle breeze blowing her hair softly. She closed her eyes and let the peacefulness of her surroundings overcome her, letting it take her breath away. She thought of Ron, and how much she missed him. She thought of what he had told her in her dream, and she let the tears flow freely. She stood there for what seemed like forever, crying softly.  
  
A soft click came from behind her and when she turned to see the culprit, a pair of steely gray eyes had transfixed themselves among hers. Her face contorted slightly as she choked back a sob, and closing her eyes, she felt tears flood from her sockets untamed.  
  
Draco stepped towards her and she collapsed into his arms, squeezing his body tightly as she cried into his chest. He brought his hand to her arms and brushed over them lightly, pulling her away from him slightly so he could brush away her tears. Her eyes closed reflexively and she gasped slightly, trying to hold back more tears.  
  
When she allowed her eyes to open, she and Draco were inches away from one another, and led by some crazed intuition that surged throughout her body in that one moment she grabbed Draco by his neck and brought her lips crashing against his. Hermione put all her might into the kiss and she put both of their mouths into a frenzy as their tongues raged in a battle of love.  
  
Somehow, they both sank to the stone floor of the tower, the passion surging through both of them. Draco pulled away from her and gasped for air, his eyes locking on hers in a silent, but mutual question.  
  
Hermione nodded slightly and pulled Draco back to her, this time being gentler with the kiss. His hands went to her waist, his thumbs moving in small circles over the skin around her belly button, caressing her abdomen softly.  
  
His fingers moved to unbutton her robes and he gazed into her eyes the whole time. When he did look he laughed slightly at the pajamas she was wearing.  
  
Hermione scoffed, "What, do you have a problem with monkeys, Draco?" she asked teasingly. Draco grinned. "No ma'am."  
  
Hermione smiled and moved his hands back to her waist, lifting them to the edges of her pajama top. He looked up at her, somewhat shocked, and she nodded. "It's okay."  
  
He lifted her shirt off slowly, wanting her to feel the anticipation. She lifted her arms so he could release her from the confines of the shirt and he pulled it over her head. He smiled when he noticed she slept with her bra on.  
  
Hermione grinned back at him and moved to do the same thing to him that he had done to her, making him wait as she pulled off his shirt agonizingly slowly. He smirked at her and she stuck her tongue out at him.  
  
"Don't stick out your tongue unless you plan to use it, Granger," he teased. She grinned. "Oh I plan to all right, ferret boy."  
  
Draco looked at her in mock offense. "I'm back to ferret boy, am I? What's next? Malfoy? Mal-ferret? Bleachie? Oh be some other name!" Hermione began laughing.  
  
"Draco."  
  
He looked to her and grinned. "What?"  
  
"Shut up." And with that, she leaned into him again, kissing his face everywhere but on his lips. She trailed her kisses down his neck and made her way for his chest, which had numerous scars on them. She glanced up to him and smiled as she leaned to his chest, kissing every scar that had found their way to his flesh, running her tongue gently over the white lines.  
  
Draco breathed heavily and squirmed slightly as he felt her breath tickling his skin, as he felt her run her warm tongue along his torso, so gently. She kissed her way back up his chest and neck and landed back on his lips, a fervent passion coursing through them both.  
  
Draco turned Hermione around so that her back was facing him, and after making sure her hair was out of the way, he returned the favor she had just bestowed upon him.  
  
After an excruciatingly slow wait, Draco turned Hermione back to him and began kissing her again, bringing her down so that her back now lay on the stone floor. She giggled slightly at the cold floor but she paid it no heed. She would be warm in a matter of seconds.  
  
Draco pulled Hermione's pajama pants down her legs and took them off. Hermione propped herself up on her elbows and watched as Draco pulled off his own. She waited in anticipation as she felt his fingers at her waist, tugging her remaining constraints away.  
  
Hermione sat all the way up and helped Draco with the rest of his own barriers, and they fell to the floor slowly, their mouths pressed together in an emotional union. Hermione's eyes widened in pain as she felt Draco push inside of her and she let out a small sob.  
  
Draco looked at her and stopped pushing himself into her, waiting for her to get used to the feeling. "You okay?" he asked softly, nuzzling her nose with his own. Hermione winced a little, but she was beginning to get used to the feel of him. She nodded. "I'm all right. Keep going."  
  
Draco nodded and kissed her lovingly, pumping slowly for the time being so as not to hurt her.  
  
~*~  
  
Hermione and Draco awoke the next morning at the sound of bird's chirping. Draco nuzzled Hermione's head with her nose and she opened her eyes, breathing him in. She made a small face.  
  
Draco looked at her with a smile. "What?"  
  
She wrinkled up her nose at him before replying. "Morning breath."  
  
"Me or you?" he whispered. Hermione laughed and pulled her hands to her nose.  
  
"Stop breathing on me," she said laughing. He mimicked her.  
  
"No, you stop breathing on me!" he said in childish voice. Hermione shoved him playfully and rested her head on his elbow.  
  
"I love you," she whispered.  
  
He looked at her and smiled. She was so beautiful. And so. . .happy, it seemed. He leaned forward and kissed her softly, rank breath and all.  
  
"I love you, too."  
  
~*~  
  
A/N: I'm done. . .my story. . .it's over. Oh me oh my. I should like to cry. I'll miss this story I will. Well. I'm about to start another one. Soon, I think, its not going to be as angsty as this one, I'm trying to do the angsty, not so angsty, angsty, not so angsty thing, you know what I mean jellybean? Anyhoo. This chapter will be my last, no sequels- none, ok? All right then. Yes, the stormy part of hermione's dream did originate from the dream draco had in chapter four. If you remember that far back, that is. I would like to thank each and every one of you who review this last chapter. You guys have made my writing so much fun. I will love you forever if you review my next story, but if you don't. . .damn you. haha, jk. Thanks you guys, again. You have made me want to keep writing when I myself had almost given up on it. Thank you. Well must be going now. Hope you enjoyed.  
  
Review me!  
  
Please. . . 


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